For all parents is a difficult ordeal in their life when receiving the news that their child has Down syndrome. After a child is diagnosed, the parents are faced to deal with many various emotions and information’s about it. During distress periods parents require the support of each other, close relatives, and the wider community.
The purpose of the master's thesis is to understand the emotions of parents when receiving the news that their child has Down syndrome. Qualitative research has been carried out during which participant’s emotional states and bodily sensations were described when they obtained the news. Their inner perception of the support from close relatives and the wider community was also included. A phenomenological psychological approach was used through six two-parent family interviews that have a child with Down syndrome. Interviews were conducted in years, 2019 and 2020. An in-depth, focused interview was referring to the area of research when getting the news, such as time frame, sensational aspect, experiencing support from the closer and wider community, the importance and adequacy of support in a given situation, changing roles in the family system and emotional experience through different time periods.
The results have shown that parents might have a very a different way of the emotional experience when they were confronted with child diagnosis. Some might experience various emotional states and bodily responses. For parents, support of each other, close and wider community could be extremely important as it gives them strength, hope, and security. After a certain period of time, when parents accept their child's diagnosis, they might also experience positive feelings. Such an experience can change their lives, relationships, roles in the family, and their view on life.
|
