Resilience and Self-Efficacy in Parents of Children with ASD

• In Event: Poster Session 02
  In Poster Session: PS 02 Topic - Developmental Disabilities

Abstract

The family system is complex and often the connections within the family system are highly delicate and vulnerable to external stressors. This fragility is magnified for families that have a child with autism spectrum disorder. A link between parental stress and children with behavioral problems, along with irritability for families of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other developmental disabilities, has been demonstrated (Hayes & Watson, 2013). These findings have been replicated in ethnically diverse/minority populations as well (Valicenti-McDermott et al., 2015). Parents of children with ASD reported higher levels of anxiety, depression, and parental distress than parents of typically developing children (Padden & James, 2017). Consequently, there has been a call to better understand the protective factors that help explain resiliency of families of individuals with developmental disabilities (Leone, Dorstyn, & Ward,2016). In order to identify these protective factors, there is a need to further investigate and understand the entire family system in research on youth with ASD (Schiltz et al., 2018). The purpose of the current study was to explore the complexities of the family system by examining several parent variables in mother-father dyads. Data was collected from 144 parents who have a child between the age(s) of 2 to 18 years old diagnosed with ASD. Parents completed surveys and a self-report questionnaire. The current study seeked to ascertain coupled parenting sets of a child or children diagnosed with autism and the degree to which they share similar experiences with regard to parenting stress, self-efficacy, resilience, and parental satisfaction. Results indicated that both mothers and fathers of children with ASD reported similar levels of parenting stress and parental satisfaction. On measures of self-efficacy, there were significant differences, t(121) = -1.73, p < .05, between fathers (M = 19.54, SD = 1.26) and mothers (M = 17.05, SD =.67). Fathers of children with ASD (M = 4.87, SD =.13) also reported higher scores than mothers of children with ASD (M = 4.38, SD =.09) on measures of resilience, t(119) = -2.57, p < .05. . While there were no differences between mothers and fathers of children with ASD in the same family, these findings indicate that there are differences between the experiences of mothers and fathers of children with ASD in general. Therefore, interventions designed to support parents of children with ASD must individualize services to meet the needs of each parent. Additionally, further investigation is needed to understand why these differences between mothers’ and father’s experiences exist. Given that mothers and fathers experience living with a child with ASD differently, it is likely that there are also differences in the experiences of other caregivers, such as grandparents. Future research is needed to gain a better understanding of the experience of caregivers within the larger family system.

Authors

• Charles S. Borgen, other
  Presenting Author

• Sofia Pham
  Non-Presenting Author

• Tamique Ridgard, Fordham University
  Non-Presenting Author