Young Carers in Northern Ireland

Perceptions of and Responses to Illness and Disability within the Family

Dados Bibliográficos

ID10896141
AutoresMarlene McGibbon (Queen's University Belfast, autor correspondente), Trevor Spratt (0000-0003-3969-5527, Trinity Research in Childhood Centre, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland), Gavin Davidson (0000-0001-6003-0170, Queen's University Belfast)
Ano2019
Volume49
Fascículo5
Páginas1162-1179
Data de publicação2019-07-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoThe British Journal of Social Work (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0045-3102 • E-ISSN: 1468-263X
EditoraOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/bjsw/bcy102
OpenAlexW2901020019
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas4
Referências citadas23

This paper reports findings from a qualitative study undertaken with twenty-two young carers across Northern Ireland aged between eight and eighteen. It focuses on their experiences as informal care-givers in households where at least one family member was living with an illness and/or disability. While much has been written about the quantifiable aspects of informal care including the number of hours spent caring and the physical nature of caring tasks, this approach has tended to subsume individual experiences within the category ‘young carer’ and fails to differentiate between sub-populations of children and young people whose caring relationships may be very disparate. Whilst there has been a tendency to focus on the vulnerability of young carers, explanations as to why some experience greater physical, emotional and psycho-social difficulties than others are underdeveloped. It has been suggested that differential outcomes may be attributable to a capacity for resilience, which can lessen vulnerability. The study examined the protective and risk factors, which might help to promote or challenge the resilience of young carers. It was found that knowledge of and response to both the nature and trajectory of illness or disability contributed to young carers’ capacity for resilience

Developmental psychology · Focus group · Perception · Perspective (graphical) · Psychological resilience · Qualitative research · Sociology · Vulnerability (computing) · Family and Disability Support Research · Family Support in Illness · Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving · Medicine · Psychology · Social Psychology