Family Wellness in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: a Balanced Approach

The current review explores the state of the literature on wellness among families living with intellectual or developmental disability (IDD). Though wellness is often defined as a process of striving for and achieving positive health, quality of life and subjective wellbeing, much of the literature on wellness in IDD has centred on struggle and negative outcomes, including experiences of stress, crisis, and mental health problems. More recent work reveals that families living with IDD are not simply fraught with negativity, and that positive experiences, such as hope, optimism, and cohesiveness, are important aspects of wellness. Many promising interventions have emerged to support the mental health of families, ultimately approaching wellness in a manner that contains both adaptive and maladaptive processes and outcomes. The current review provides an overview of this literature, describes evidence-based interventions in this context, and highlights areas for future research.