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BACKGROUND In Spain, as in other countries, there has been a deep and intense process of change towards the adoption and use of family-centred practices (FCPs) on early intervention (EI). Despite that several international organizations have recommended FCPs be embedded in EI services, researchers on this field have highlighted a recommendation-implementation gap, as well as the need to point investigation on practitioners and intervention variables involved. Consequently, our goals were to describe and compare the practitioners' appraisals on actual and desired practices in Spain and to explore the relationships between practitioners and intervention characteristics and the use of recommended practices. METHODS A survey including practitioner and intervention characteristics measures was used to obtain data needed. The actual and desired practices were explored through the Family Orientation of Community and Agency Services Scale. The participants were 119 EI Spanish practitioners whose programmes were in the first stages of different FCP implementation projects. RESULTS Practitioners reported actual practices to be less family centred than they would like, moderately in line with FCP. They reported desired practices as quite close to recommended practices. Intervention characteristics were related to actual practices, whereas practitioner characteristics were not. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that the recommendation-implementation gap still exists in our context, as well as in other countries. Intervention characteristics seem to be one of the key elements significantly influencing actual practices, though additional research is needed. A comprehensive framework for implementation is needed to bridge the gap between recommendation practices and the use of these practices.

Findings from two studies investigating the relationships between two types of family-centred practices (relational and participatory) and parent involvement in early childhood intervention are des...

Background: Family quality of life (FQoL), just like individual quality of life, has become a priority outcome in the policies and services received by persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their families. Conceptualizing, measuring, and theorizing FQoL has been the object of investigation in recent decades. The goal of this paper is to present a revision of the Spanish Family Quality of Life Scales, the CdVF-E &lt, 18 and the CdVF-E &gt, 18, and describe the FQoL of Spanish families with a member with IDD. Methods: The sample included a total of 548 families with a member under 18 years old and 657 families with a member over 18. Based on an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) firstly and a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) secondly, the two scales&rsquo, psychometric properties were explored. Results: The CdVF-ER &lt, 18 and the CdVF-ER &gt, 18 comprise 5 dimensions, containing 35 and 32 items, respectively, and they show good validity and reliability. The families obtained a high FQoL score, although some differences exist between the dimensions on which families with children under and over 18 score highest and lowest. Conclusion: The characteristics of the revised scales facilitate their use by professionals, administrations, and services.

Children with disabilities are more likely to engage in some form of challenging behavior. The present study sought to investigate the prevalence of challenging behaviors, such as aggressive/destructive or stereotypic behavior, and identify those personal and contextual risk markers associated with the occurrence of challenging behaviors. A total of 205 children with intellectual disability enrolled in a special education school participated in this study. Fifteen professionals participated in this study and responded to two questionnaires via an interview format. Of the sample, 60% were identified as displaying some form of challenging behavior. Both personal and environmental factors within this school were identified as significant predictors of at least one form of behavior. Findings highlight the need to invest in further research to identify personal and environmental variables that may act as risk markers for challenging behaviors in a specific educational setting to customize the services and supports provided.

Background Research evidence from studies in North America on the relationships between family-centered practices, parents’ self-efficacy beliefs, parenting confidence and competence beliefs, and parents’ psychological well-being was used to confirm or disconfirm the same relationships in two studies in Spain. Aims The aim of Study 1 was to determine if results from studies in North America could be replicated in Spain and the aim of Study 2 was to determine if results from Study 1 could be replicated with a second sample of families in Spain. Methods and procedures A survey including the study measures was used to obtain data needed to evaluate the relationships among the variables of interest. The participants were 105 family members in Study 1 and 310 family members in Study 2 recruited from nine early childhood intervention programs. Structural equation modeling was used to test the direct and indirect effects of the study variables on parents’ well-being. Outcomes and results Results showed that family-centered practices were directly related to both self-efficacy beliefs and parenting beliefs, and indirectly related to parents’ psychological well-being mediated by belief appraisals. Conclusion and implications The pattern of results was similar to those reported in other studies of family-centered practices. Results indicated that the use of family-centered practices can have positive effects on parent well-being beyond that associated with different types of belief appraisals.

Early intervention (EI) has been shown to be an essential resource for meeting the needs and priorities of children with intellectual and developmental disability and their families. The objective of this study was to examine (a) the perceived quality of life of families attending EI centers in Spain and (b) its relationship with characteristics of the children and their families. The Family Quality of Life Scale was administered to a sample of 281 families with children aged 0 to 6 years attending an EI center. To determine the relationship between family quality of life (FQoL) and the family and children’s characteristics, Student’s t test and one-way ANOVA were performed. Likewise, effect size was measured in those groups. The results show that the emotional well-being of families was high, although they were concerned about health and financial well-being. The perceived FQoL varies depending on income, family type, and severity of the child’s disability. Implications for professional practice in EI centers are presented.

One of the most important challenges that early intervention (EI) has faced in recent years is the transition process from child-based practices to familycentered programmes. This study's main objectives were: (a) To understand the changes identified by the staff in their professional knowledge and practices with families during the transition from a center-based programmes to family-centered practices; (b) To explore the parents' satisfaction with the family-centered practices; (c) To know how professionals perceive the transition from center-based to familycentered practices in EI. Participants were 11 families of children with intellectual disability and 11 professionals from six early intervention centres in Spain. Results showed that professionals valued familycentered services because it allowed them to gather relevant information about the families' strengths and resources. Families perceived their participation as a real empowerment for all family members and positive for their children. Implications for professional practice in EI are discussed.

Background In recent decades, Family Quality of Life (FQOL) has emerged as a decisive construct, both to improve the living conditions of the families of people with disabilities and to assess the results on the services and supports that they receive. The aim of this research is to determine the perception of the families regarding their support needs, the quality of their partnerships with professionals, and their FQOL and then identify to what extent the supports of early childhood intervention centers have a positive impact on the families’ FQOL while exploring whether the family–professional partnership has become a fundamental intervening factor of FQOL. Method The participants were 202 families with children aged 0–6 with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We used the structural equation model to analyze the influence that the adequacy of the supports and the partnerships exerted on FQOL. Results The results indicate that the families have language and speech support needs for their children and information needs for themselves, and that they are mostly satisfied with their partnerships with the professionals and their FQOL. Our results also indicate that their degree of satisfaction with the support was a good predictor of FQOL and their ratings of partnership quality was a key factor interceding on this effect. Conclusions This study provides professionals and public institutions with guidance when designing plans to improve early childhood intervention centers so the quality of life of these families and the progress of children with disabilities living in Spain become progressively stronger.

Background Early childhood intervention (ECI) centres in Spain recently initiated a process of change towards the adoption of family-centred practices (FCPs). Knowledge about the extent to which practitioners' use FCPs is needed. The psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the FCPs scale were examined. Method A convenience sample of 105 families of children with developmental delays attending three different ECI centres in Spain completed the FCPs scale and provided information about the ECI centre characteristics and practices, caregiver self-efficacy beliefs, and family and child demographic information. Results The Spanish version of the FCP scale was found to be both reliable and valid. FCPs were correlated with self-efficacy beliefs, parents' involvement in their child's ECI program and family decision making. Conclusion The FCP scale provides practitioners with useful information about their practices, but also has capacity-building consequences for families. The study is a first step for examining the use of FCPs in Spain.

his paper describes the evolution of early intervention (EI) in Catalonia until its present day. The first attempts were established in the early seventies by interdisciplinary teams trying to improve the development of children with disabilities with an understanding that it was crucial to intervene as early as possible. Nowadays, EI in Catalonia consists of a well-established public network of Early Intervention Centres with specific catchment areas responsible for preventing, detecting, treating and monitoring children (and their families) with disorders in their development. The article provides an accurate description of the process that families with children with developmental delay follow from the time they discover a problem in their child's development until they reach the Child Development and Early Intervention Centre. To this end, the article is divided into two parts. The first takes a brief look at the history of the legislation regarding EI in Catalonia, while the second focuses on how the services involved were conceived and are currently organised and implemented., Bu çalışma Katalonya'da erken müdahalenin günümüze kadarki gelişimini anlatmaktadır. İlk çabalar, müdahalenin mümkün olduğu kadar erken yapılmasının önemli olduğu anlayışı ile yetersizliği olan çocukların gelişimini desteklemeye çalışan disiplinlerarası gruplar tarafından 1970'lerin başlarında gerçekleştirilmiştir. Son zamanlarda, Katalonya'da erken müdahale, yetersizliği olan çocukların (ve ailelerinin) gelişimleri sürecinde önleme, belirleme, iyileştirme ve takip etme gibi belirli süreçlerinden sorumlu olan Erken Müdahale Merkezlerinin çok iyi şekilde kuruduğu yerel ağdan oluşmaktadır. Bu makale, gelişimsel geriliği olan çocukların ailelelerinin, çocuklarının gelişimindeki problemi keşfetmelerinden Çocuk Gelişimi ve Erken Müdahale Merkezine gelene kadar takip ettikleri sürecin ayrıntılı bir açıklamasını sağlamaktadır. Bu amaca yönelik olarak, makale iki parçaya bölünmüştür. İlk kısım Katalonya'da erken müdahale konusundaki yasaların tarihine kısa bir bakış sağlarken, ikinci kısım ise sağlanan hizmetlerin nasıl tasarlandığı ve günümüzde nasıl organize edildiği ve uygulandığı konularına odaklanmaktadır.

Background Researchers, professionals, and families have shown increasing concern with the family quality of life (FQoL) of people with intellectual disability (ID) and their families. The goals of this research were (a) to explore how Spanish families understand FQoL by developing 2 different measurement tools for families with a member with ID under and over 18 years old, and (b) to provide 2 diagnostic instruments that will be useful for designing action plans.Method The study comprised 4 stages: (a) focus groups, (b) expert assessment, (c) pilot study, and (d) normalisation and standardisation. The data were collected in 5 regions in Spain, and 1,205 families with a member with ID took part in the normalisation and standardisation of the scales.Results Both FQoL scales were consistent and have valid psychometric characteristics.Conclusions The scales have a diagnostic purpose for use in designing action plans aimed at producing significant changes in families’ lives.