Turkish Mothers’ Narratives of Communication and Emotional Labor in Families Raising Children with Multiple Disabilities: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Previous research on raising children with disabilities has primarily emphasised parental stress and caregiving burden, yet less is known about how mothers sustain everyday communication and emotional labour when conventional language-based interaction is limited. This qualitative study employed interpretive thematic analysis to examine the accounts of ten mothers in Türkiye who were the primary caregivers of children with multiple disabilities. In-depth semi-structured interviews were analysed inductively through iterative coding and cross-case comparison while preserving contextual variation. Two overarching themes were identified. The Invisible Dimensions of Communication captured embodied, intuitive, and relational communication, as well as limited formal support and constrained family communication. Emotional Labour and Maternal Loneliness reflected sustained emotional regulation, endurance, and cumulative strain shaped by gendered caregiving, fragmented institutional support, and uncertainty about the future. These experiences varied according to children’s communication characteristics, family circumstances, and access to support. This study offers analytically transferable insights into how communication and emotional labour intersect in family caregiving for children with multiple disabilities. The findings highlight mothers’ often invisible role in sustaining family interaction and emotional stability, underscoring the need for family-centred, gender-sensitive, communication-focused support systems that recognise mothers’ experiential knowledge and emotional work.