Journal of Intellectual Disability Research     / pp ‒ /   ©  Blackwell Publishing Ltd 342  , ⅝⅔, ⅜⅛¾⅛  ¾  -   ⅝,  Original ArticleSupporting families over the life courseG. Grant et al. Correspondence: Gordon Grant, School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Sheffield, and Doncaster and South Humber Healthcare NHS Trust, Samuel Fox House, Northern General Hospital, Herries Road, Sheffield S AU, UK (g.grant@sheffield.ac.uk). Supporting families over the life course: mapping temporality G. Grant, 1 M. Nolan 1 & J. Keady 2 1 School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK 2 School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Studies, University of Wales Bangor, Bangor, UK Abstract Background The present paper addresses a rather neglected dimension of family caregiving, its tempo- rality. Many accounts of caregiving assume a state of stasis, and therefore, overlook factors which shape the evolving experience of family caregiving over the life course. Methods The paper begins by offering some reflec- tions on theoretical and methodological issues iden- tified by life-course researchers. Results Based both on theoretical propositions and a growing body of empirical evidence, this paper offers a heuristic for thinking about caregiving stages applied to families supporting people with intellec- tual disability. Conclusions This heuristic is used to suggest further avenues of research and development. Keywords life course, mapping temporality, supporting families Introduction Epistemological and methodological issues concern- ing research and the life course have come under increasing scrutiny in recent years (Adam ; Rutter ; Giele & Elder ; Fingerman & Hilkevitch Bedford ; Levitt ; Mayer ; Mills ; Heinz & Kruger ) since the land- mark contributions of Elder () and Zerubavel () more than  decades ago. On the one hand, this appears to reflect a greater appreciation of differ- ent time constructs and how these may help to improve an understanding of human behaviour, and on the other, a recognition that different disciplines have a role to play in this, most notably sociology, social anthropology, demography, developmental psychology and social geography, especially where they can work together (Mayer ). However, much of the life-course literature is still discipline-bound. For example, the considerable vol- ume of research on child development is frequently underpinned by work on attachment theory as the route to understanding links between parenting, fam- ily functioning and child development (Bowlby ; Sroufe & Fleeson ; Pianta et al. ). Despite such groundwork, it remains unclear as to how attachment classifications in adulthood might have evolved from infancy. Therefore, for example, we find that the formidable volume of research within social gerontology, much of it focused on social networks or social support, is often devoid of developmental perspectives which take account of earlier life-span influences. Some valiant efforts have recently been made to bridge such a divide by bringing child and human development specialists together with social