Stress and Parents of Children with Autism: A Review of Literature

Abstract

The purpose of this review is twofold. The first is to synthesize factors that impact parents' experiences of caring for a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD); the second is to identify factors that impact parental stress and parental decision-making to use autism services or not. Parents of children with ASD score higher on levels of stress than other groups of parents. The daily challenges of caring for the child are endless and effect all aspects of the child's care as well as the parent's mental health and ability to manage the needs of the child and family. Understanding more about the challenges parents face will provide direction for research, intervention development, and practice. Accordingly, a search was conducted using CINAHL and Medline. Inclusion criteria included articles available in full text, published in English, and focused on children with ASD distinct from other diagnoses, as well as parental experiences of caring for a child with ASD. Articles (N = 132) that met the inclusion criteria were summarized. Challenging aspects of the child's diagnosis and care are discussed, as well as the factors that impact parental stress and decision-making to use autism services. Recommendations for research and practice include interventional development related to early diagnosis, disparity, access to care, parental decision-making to use autism services, and parental stress management.

Identifying Depression in Parents of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Recommendations for Professional Practice

“…Depressive symptoms include agitation, social isolation, indecisiveness, decreased self-care, and thoughts of death or suicide. The very skills that are needed for effective parenting are the ones impacted by the presence of depression, and depression has been identifi ed as being three times more likely in mothers of children with ASD (Bonis, 2016).…”

A support programme for registered nurses in the early identification of autism spectrum disorders in primary healthcare clinics: A pilot study

“…It could therefore be expected that the registered nurses who took part in this training would refer children for diagnosis to the tertiary hospital. [4] A more significant improvement was seen in their knowledge of treatment approaches for ASDs. Prior to training, only 30% of the registered nurses had some idea of the different treatment approaches, compared to 60% following the training.…”

Coparentalidade No Contexto Familiar De Crianças Com Transtorno Do Espectro Autista

“…O sentimento das mães de desigualdade na divisão das tarefas parentais somados às alterações de comportamentos dos filhos com TEA interferem nas interações no contexto familiar e podem contribuir para o aumento do estresse parental, principalmente nas mães dessas crianças em comparação com os sintomas de estresse referidos por pais de crianças com outras deficiências (Bonis, 2016).…”

“…No âmbito internacional se destacam alguns estudos sobre o tema com os pais de crianças com TEA, mas todos eles aplicaram escalas e utilizaram de abordagens quantitativas e também encontram resultados semelhantes, no qual relacionam que quanto maior o estresse parental menor será a qualidade na relação coparental (Hill-Chapman, Herzog, & Maduro, 2013;May, Fletcher, Dempsey, & Newman, 2015;Thullen & Bonsall, 2017). O estresse parental é mais elevado nas mães influenciado pela percepção que elas têm sobre a desigualdade na divisão das tarefas parentais (Bonis, 2016). Além disso, uma relação parental negativa terá a tendência de aumentar os níveis de conflito e desacordo sobre as práticas parentais (Sim, Cordier, Vaz, Netto, & Falkmer, 2017).…”