Families of Adolescents and Adults With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

This chapter focuses on past and present themes in research on families of adolescents and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), as well as suggested future directions. We focused on three types of family relationships: relationships between the parent and the adolescent/adult with IDD (including parental well-being), parents' marital relationships, and sibling relationships (including sibling well-being). A common past theme for each of these types of relationships was a focus on between-group differences, which encompassed comparisons between disability and typically developing samples, as well as comparisons between disability groups. Present research themes included investigation of risk and protective factors, a widening of the outcomes that are investigated, and recognition of the interactive influences of multiple relationships. A number of suggestions for future research are described, including the need for more diverse samples, importance of longitudinal research, incorporating the perspectives of all members of the family, and developing effective family supports and interventions.