Longitudinal impact of public stigma and courtesy stigma on parents of children with autism spectrum disorder: The moderating role of trait mindfulness

Exploring the relationship between courtesy stigma and life satisfaction among caregivers of youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

“…The present study showed that courtesy stigma was significantly associated with perceived stress, self-compassion, and satisfaction with life among caregivers of youth with IDDs. Such results are consistent with the previous studies indicating that caregivers’ experiences of negative attitudes and discrimination by others impact caregivers’ emotional distress (Chou et al, 2009; Yip & Chan, 2022), caregiving burden (Green, 2007), mental health status (Cantwell et al, 2015; Chan et al, 2023; Chan & Lam, 2017; Recio et al, 2021), and psychological well-being (Broady et al, 2017; Mak & Kwok, 2010). Caregivers of youth with IDDs deal not only with practical challenges related to their child’s disability and transition issues to adulthood but also with the negative consequences of courtesy stigma on stress and satisfaction with life.…”

“…Stigma's association with stress might be weakened if caregivers are actively supported in practicing self-compassion in the presence of courtesy stigma (Chan et al, 2020;Neff & Faso, 2015;Papadopoulos et al, 2019). Such interventions could help caregivers use mindfulness, self-kindness, and a sense of common humanity (the components of self-compassion) to cope with stigma, thus supporting sustained resilience and emotion regulation in the face of long-term challenges (Chan et al, 2020;Yip & Chan, 2022) and potentially reduce psychological stress and increase overall well-being. The mediation analysis also indicated that the participants' perceived social support, whether from family, peers, or other significant individuals, mediated the relationship between courtesy stigma and life satisfaction among caregivers of youth with IDDs.…”

Affiliate Stigma Among Caregivers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: The Role of Coping Strategies and Perceived Social Support

“…Families of children with disabilities often encounter stigma due to a lack of understanding about disabilities, fear of the unknown, and prevalent stereotypes and prejudices (Çaynak et al, 2022). Specifically, in the context of ASD, caregivers may experience courtesy stigma (i.e., public stigma) and feel blamed as bad parents (Yip and Chan, 2022), which is exacerbated by the absence of ASD physical disability and the presence of behavioral problems (Patra and Kumar Patro, 2019;Salleh et al, 2020). Repeated exposure to courtesy stigma can cause caregivers to internalize negative attitudes and develop affiliate stigma (also known as self-stigma; Mak and Cheung, 2008).…”

Development and evaluation of a family-child reading picture book on reducing autism spectrum disorder caregivers’ psychological stress: a mixed method study

“…Therefore, it is important to alleviate the psychological stress of caregivers of children with ASD ( 12 ). In addition, studies have shown that caregivers’ resilience ( 13 ), family empowerment ( 14 ), self-efficacy ( 12 ), and affiliate stigma ( 15 ) were all correlated with levels of psychological stress.…”