Couple relationships among parents of children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Findings from a scoping review of the literature

Saini, Michael; Stoddart, Kevin P.; Gibson, Margaret F.; Morris, Rae; Barrett, Deborah E.; Muskat, Barbara; Nicholas, David; Rampton, Glenn; Zwaigenbaum, Lonnie

doi:10.1016/j.rasd.2015.06.014

Cited by 69 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 81 publications

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“…Additionally, our study's finding that contextual factors can affect couples' experiences of intimacy is consistent with research that has addressed the importance of context in predicting relationship satisfaction and determining partner intimacy among couples raising children with ASD. While in line with other studies that have focused on how social support (Saini et al., ) or shared foundational ideas about marriage (Ramisch et al., ) can impact the couple relationship, our work also highlights other contextual variables (e.g., partner mental health) and notes their moderating role in couples' negotiations of intimacy.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

“…Namely, our finding that couples must shift their perceptions for and expectations of what it means to be a couple in the context of raising a child with ASD is supported by a number of other studies which also suggest that such cognitive shifts strengthen couples' relationships (Ekas et al., ; Marciano et al., ; Myers et al., ). Furthermore, our finding that couples must engage in various relational shifts to promote intimacy in their relationships echoes the results of several studies which have found communication, teamwork, and emotional support to be of great importance when striving for a healthy relationship in the context of caring for a child with ASD (Ekas et al., ; Ramisch et al., ; Saini et al., ). Our work also adds to this body of literature by demonstrating that (a) shifts in partners' appraisals of what it means to be a couple caring for a child with ASD necessarily precede couples' successful engagement in various relational shifts found to strengthen their relationships and (b) couples must make not just cognitive but also relational shifts in order to foster partner intimacy.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

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Exploring Partner Intimacy Among Couples Raising Children on the Autism Spectrum: A Grounded Theory Investigation

Johnson

Piercy

2017

J Marital Family Therapy

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In this study, we explored how couples raising children with autism spectrum disorder negotiate intimacy, including what contextual and temporal factors influence these processes. We conducted conjoint interviews with 12 couples, employing grounded theory methodology to collect and analyze the data. Our results indicated that fostering intimacy in these couples' relationships involves partners working together to make key cognitive and relational shifts. Couples are aided or hindered in making these shifts by the degree to which they experience various contextual and environmental factors as resources or roadblocks. We also found that intimacy is not a fixed point at which couples one day arrive, but is an iterative process taking place over time and requiring work to develop and maintain.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Exploring Partner Intimacy Among Couples Raising Children on the Autism Spectrum: A Grounded Theory Investigation

Johnson

Piercy

2017

J Marital Family Therapy

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“…Some researchers have studied the relationship stability (how likely parents are to divorce or separate) of parents of children with ASD [Freedman, Kalb, Zablotsky, & Stuart, ]. Saini et al [] identified 11 studies, two of which directly addressed divorce risk for parents of children with ASD. The first reported that the rate of divorce for parents of children with ASD (23.5%) in the United States was almost twice that of the comparison group (13.8%) [Hartley et al, ].…”

Section: Parental Relationship Stabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Parents of a child with a disability may encounter challenges above and beyond those associated with parenting a typically developing child which may affect their relationship with their partner [Saini et al, ]. Caring for a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has been linked to a range of negative outcomes for parents such as elevated levels of stress [Eisenhower, Baker, & Blacher, ], depression [Singer, ], and burden [Stuart & McGrew, ], however, less is known about the couple relationship in families of children with ASD [Saini et al, ]. The additional practical, emotional and financial demands of raising a child with ASD may change the everyday life and long‐term outlook of couples.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parental relationship satisfaction in families of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD): A multilevel analysis

2017

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Caring for a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has been linked to a range of negative outcomes for parents but less is known about the putative impact upon the parental couple relationship. The relationship satisfaction of parents of children with ASD was investigated using multilevel modeling. Mothers and fathers (146 couples) reported on their relationship satisfaction, their own well-being, and the behavior problems of the child with ASD and a sibling. Results indicated that mothers and fathers reported similar levels of relationship satisfaction and it was significantly and negatively associated with parental depression and the behavior problems of the child with ASD. Relationship satisfaction was unrelated to the behavior problems of a sibling, the number of children in the household, and family socioeconomic position (SEP). Further longitudinal research that captures a broader range of variables is required to build a theoretical understanding of relationship satisfaction in families of children with ASD. Current evidence suggests that early intervention routes targeting either child behavior problems, parental mental health, or the couple relationship have the potential to benefit inter-connected subsystems within the broader family system. Autism Res 2017. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Autism Res 2017, 10: 1259-1268. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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“…Basically, I'm more involved with her than developing children (Fletcher et al, 2014) and Saini et al, (2015) argued that such a strategy is especially important for parents of children with autism due the nature of their children's more complex and challenging needs.…”

Section: Father-mother Rolesmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘It’s the most important thing – I mean, the schooling’: father involvement in the education of children with autism

Potter

2016

European Journal of Special Needs Education

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Father involvement in education has been shown to result in a range of positive outcomes for typically developing children. However, the nature of paternal involvement in the education of children with disabilities and especially autism has been under-researched and is little understood. This study aimed to explore the nature of the involvement of 25 UK fathers in the education and their children with autism, aged up to 19 years through the use of semi-structured interviews. Findings showed that fathers were highly engaged both directly and indirectly across several dimensions of their children's education and schooling.Key areas of indirect engagement were involvement in administrative processes necessary for securing an appropriate educational placement; facilitating daily access to school and general support of children's progress through attendance at school-based meetings and events. Direct support for learning occurred through homework assistance and working on school-related goals. Findings are discussed in relation to diversity and generative models of fatherhood.Implications for greater father inclusion in the education of children with autism are explored with reference to a gender-differentiated approach.

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Couple relationships among parents of children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Findings from a scoping review of the literature

Cited by 69 publications

References 81 publications

Exploring Partner Intimacy Among Couples Raising Children on the Autism Spectrum: A Grounded Theory Investigation

Exploring Partner Intimacy Among Couples Raising Children on the Autism Spectrum: A Grounded Theory Investigation

Parental relationship satisfaction in families of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD): A multilevel analysis

‘It’s the most important thing – I mean, the schooling’: father involvement in the education of children with autism

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