Burden,Social Support,and Life Satisfaction Among Caregivers of Children With Intellectual Disability: The Case of Felege Abay and Shembt Primary Schools,Bahir Dar,Ethiopia

Abstract

This study was conducted to examine the burden, social support, and life satisfaction among caregivers of children with intellectual disability. The level of burden, social support, and life satisfaction of caregivers; the relationship among burden level, social support, and life satisfaction; and burden level difference across sociodemographic characteristics of the participants were the objectives of this study. With inclusion criteria of availability, willingness, and pertinent priority of being parents, grandparents, and siblings of the child, 74 caregivers were selected using comprehensive sampling technique. Descriptive statistics, one sample t test, Pearson correlation coefficient, independent sample t test, and one-way analysis of variance, were used for data analysis. The findings revealed that caregivers are experiencing much level of burden with inadequate social support and have pitiable satisfaction in their life. Burden is negatively correlated with social support and life satisfaction, but social support is positively correlated with satisfaction in life. Some of the sociodemographic variables, such as sex and school, were showing significant differences in the experiences of burden level, while all other sociodemographic variables used in this study were not having significant difference. The result implied that caregivers are in need of social support so as to outweigh the level of burden and enhance their satisfaction in life.

Keywords

burden social support life satisfaction intellectual disability caregivers

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