Parenting stress and psychological functioning among mothers of preschool children with autism and developmental delay

By Annette M. Estes, Jeff Munson, Geraldine Dawson, Elizabeth Koehler, Xiao-Hua Zhou, Robert D. Abbott. Autism, 2009

885 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Parents of children with developmental disabilities, particularly autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), are at risk for high levels of distress. The factors contributing to this are unclear. This study investigated how child characteristics influence maternal parenting stress and psychological distress. Participants consisted of mothers and developmental-age matched preschool-aged children with ASD (N = 51) and developmental delay without autism (DD) ( N = 22). Evidence for higher levels of parenting stress and psychological distress was found in mothers in the ASD group compared to the DD group. Children's problem behavior was associated with increased parenting stress and psychological distress in mothers in the ASD and DD groups. This relationship was stronger in the DD group. Daily living skills were not related to parenting stress or psychological distress. Results suggest clinical services aiming to support parents should include a focus on reducing problem behaviors in children with developmental disabilities.

Subfields: Clinical Psychology, Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health, Psychiatry and Mental health

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/72fe561ac3d618fdc3b7011d362e37af19fa3483

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In Clinical Psychology

Citations in the corpus

Evaluating the effects of Acceptance and Commitment Training on the overt behavior of parents of children with autism (2017, background): “Raising a child with autism involves chronic challenges consistently associated with high levels of psychological distress in parents (Eikeseth, Klintwall, Hayward, & Gale, 2015; Estes et al., 2009; Grindle, Kovshoff, Hastings, & Remington, 2009; Hayes &Watson, 2013).”
The double ABCX model of family adaptation in families of a child with an autism spectrum disorder attending an Australian early intervention service (2013, methodology): “Consistent with previous research (e.g., Estes et al., 2009), greater pile-up of additional demands were associated with higher levels of individual distress in terms of depression, anxiety and stress symptoms, and lower relationship quality.”