Kako zaposleni roditelji djece s teškoćama u razvoju usklađuju zahtjeve radne i obiteljske uloge? Kvalitativno istraživanje
How Do Employed Parents of Children with Developmental Disabilities Balance the Demands of Work and Family Roles? Qualitative Research

Summary/Abstract: Parents of children with developmental disabilities face numerous challenges and stressors that can negatively impact their well-being. One of the relatively neglected issues, particularly in the national context, is the difficulty of balancing the demands of work and family for this group of parents. Therefore, this paper aimed to gain a deeper insight into the factors that may be important in explaining the well-being of working parents of children with developmental disabilities in Croatia. More specifically, it aimed to identify the factors that promote and/or hinder the reconciliation of work and family life for this group of parents. A total of 25 working parents (15 mothers and 10 fathers) of children with different types and degrees of developmental disabilities participated in the research, which was based on in-depth interviews. Most participants (N=23) have one child, while two of them have two children with objectively diagnosed developmental disabilities. Most of the participants (N=21) are employed full-time. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. The results indicated four groups of factors: social, organisational, family, and individual, that facilitate and/or hinder the reconciliation of work and family roles from the perspective of study participants. Considering that the well-being of parents of children with developmental disabilities is strongly influenced by the specific social context, which makes it difficult to generalise the insights obtained in different countries, the results of this research conducted in Croatia constitute an important theoretical contribution. The identification and description of relevant factors that enable the reconciliation of work and family roles and thus shape the well-being of this group of parents provide a strong starting point for quantitative research in this area. In addition to the above, the paper provides a number of practical implications aimed at improving the well-being of this group of parents.

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