Meaning and potential of interview data in depiction of life stories: interviews of three mothers caring for children with severe disabilities.
Masahiro Hayashida, Teruo Yokoi
PMID 30154607WHAT IT FOUND
Mothers of children with severe disabilities described moving from unhappiness and blaming others toward awareness and gratitude, with different final meanings.
Key findings
01The labels included hardships from frequent awareness of personal unhappiness, blaming surrounding people, becoming aware of others' feelings, and feeling thankful to surrounding people.
02The current states differed: strange satisfaction with living with the child, happiness for child and mother, and gratitude for the child's role in saving the marriage.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Only 3 mothers completed the study, so the themes cannot be taken as representative of all families. Mothers were selected for appearing to have positive acceptance of their child's disability, which limits what the findings say about families who do not share that stance. The study reports mothers' narratives, not child outcomes or effects of physical therapy. The analysis relied on the authors' interpretation of interview labels and diagrams.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat these narratives as evidence that physical therapy changed the mothers' lives or that all families follow this path. The study reports interview labels from 3 mothers, not child outcomes or therapy effects.