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. 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. 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. 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.

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. 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. 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. 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. 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.

From the results of a research aimed at improving the quality of life of families with a child with intellectual disability, the purpose of this paper is to provide a methodology for the implementation of the family-centered model in early childhood intervention centers in our country. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of the collected data allow us to systematize the steps or stages that would be necessary to provide professionals and families in early intervention centers with useful tools to empower the families and to enhance the children’s development. This article represents another step further from the proposals made by other researchers in other countries with different traditions and culture in the field of early intervention, and intends to reflect the characteristics of our country in terms of the history and the path of early intervention in recent decades.