Relationship of perceived adequacy of services, family-professional partnerships, and family quality of life in early childhood service programmes

This study applied three family measures (ratings of service adequacy or implementation, satisfaction with the family-professional partnership, and family quality of life) to a sample of families of young children in one Midwestern U.S. state. The results suggest that: (a) families more often believe they are receiving adequate amounts of services for their child, but tend to believe they are not receiving adequate amounts of services for their family; (b) respondents tend to be satisfied with their partnerships with their primary service provider, with lower satisfaction ratings for the provider's ability to meet their child's individual needs and to provide information about services; and (c) respondents tended to be more satisfied with their family's material well-being and less so with their family's emotional well-being. Finally, we found that service adequacy ratings were a significant predictor of family quality of life, and that partnerships partially mediated this effect. We discuss the research, service, and policy implications of these findings.