Understanding mental health outcomes related to compassion fatigue in parents of children diagnosed with intellectual disability

Abstract

Background: Parenting a child diagnosed with intellectual disability includes a variety of stressors. The degree to which stress affects these parents has been given little emphasis. Compassion fatigue includes experiencing an emotional response to being unable to relieve the suffering of a loved one, burnout, strain and stress on the caregiver. Compassion fatigue develops in parents of children diagnosed with intellectual disability due to their caregiving roles. Method: A phenomenological qualitative study was conducted using 25 semi-structured interviews to understand the mental health outcomes of parents caring for a child diagnosed with intellectual disability. Results: The results showed that initial emotional reactions after receiving their child’s diagnosis was a combination of anxiety, depression and compassion satisfaction. This study’s findings suggest that parents of children diagnosed with intellectual disability experience moderate levels of compassion fatigue in the caring of their child. Conclusions: This research provides evidence that the caregiving of a child diagnosed with intellectual disability comes with a myriad of stressors that can lead to compassion fatigue.