Caregiving Stress Experienced by Parents of Adult Children with Intellectual Disabilities During COVID-19 in Korea

ABSTRACT

Many of community supports and resources were shattered in the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving parents to navigate caring for their adult child with intellectual disabilities with little support. This study explored caregiving stress experienced by parents of adult children with intellectual disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic in Korea. In-depth interviews were conducted with 19 parents of an adult child with intellectual disabilities. Thematic analysis yielded two themes: caregiving burden and deteriorating health. Parents bore the brunt of the caregiving burden, spending much of their time helping their adult child with daily activities and managing their challenging behaviors, leaving the caregivers struggling physically and mentally. The heightened caregiver burden and associated deteriorating health among these parents raise serious concerns, indicating a need for immediate support to alleviate these issues and help parents navigate caring for their adult child with intellectual disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19
• adult children
• intellectual disabilities
• caregiving stress

Disclosure statement

The authors have no affiliation with any organization with a direct or indirect financial interest in the subject matter discussed in the manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.