Jessica Lust
The DCD experience: Parental experiences in the diagnostic process of Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) in the Netherlands.
Aim: To identify factors that are related to parents’ satisfaction with the diagnostic process of Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), from the first concerns to receiving the DCD diagnosis, in the Netherlands.
Background: Receiving a diagnosis can have a major impact on the child and its family. Parental satisfaction concerning the diagnostic process is important with regard to acceptance and coping with their child’s problems.
Method: Parents of children with a DCD diagnosis in the Netherlands were invited to participate in an online survey. Parents (all mothers, mean(SD) age = 41.8(5.4 years)) of 60 children (mean(SD) age = 10.2(3.8) years) responded. On average, the children received a DCD diagnosis 3.9 years prior to completion of the survey. The survey included questions concerning background, (experiences during) the diagnostic process and the period after the diagnostic process. Completing the questionnaire took 20-30 minutes. Factors were identified based on (CAT)PCA. Spearman’s rank correlations (rho) were calculated to examine relations with parental satisfaction using a multiple correlations procedure. Multiple (stepwise) regression was used to identify the most important factors in predicting parental satisfaction with the diagnostic process.
Results: 75% of the parents were (very) satisfied about the overall diagnostic process. The multiple correlations procedure revealed that the attitude of the professional involved in the diagnostic process, his/her perceived degree of expertise and post-diagnostic support (a follow-up appointment and the opportunity to ask questions) were the most important factors for the degree of satisfaction in parents. In addition, the extent to which parents experienced stress during the diagnostic process was an important predictor of satisfaction with this process (p = .02). The diagnostic process took on average 33.5 months (SD = 25.6 months). The duration was not related to the satisfaction of the parents, but the longer the duration of the diagnostic process the less parents experienced a feeling of understanding for the problems of their child.
Discussion and conclusion (including the significance of the study): The results underline the importance of increasing knowledge and awareness about DCD amongst professionals and for providing post-diagnostic support to parents. Although the majority of the participating parents indicated to be satisfied about the diagnostic process, it is essential that the duration of the diagnostic progress is reduced.
