Family Socioeconomic Status and Parental Involvement in Chinese Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Moderated Mediation Model

Abstract

Parental involvement benefits children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in multiple developmental areas. We conducted the present study to examine the role of parenting stress and ASD symptom severity in the relationship between family socioeconomic status (SES) and parental involvement. A total of 165 Chinese parents of children with ASD participated in this study. Mediation analyses indicated that family SES was positively related to parental involvement; parenting stress partially mediated the relationship between family SES and parental involvement. The analyses also found that ASD symptom severity moderated the influence of parenting stress on parental involvement. Specifically, the decreased parenting stress improved parental involvement when ASD symptom severity was low. The findings enhanced our understanding of the mechanism underlying the relationship between family SES and parental involvement among parents facing considerable child-rearing challenges. Implications for devising evidenced-based interventions to promote parental involvement for low SES children with ASD are discussed.

Excess Mortality in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Population-Based Cohort Study

“…29 Previous studies showed that parents with higher SES tend to be more attentive and knowledgeable about autism, have greater access to quality healthcare services and exhibit greater parental involvement. [30][31][32] This may lead to superior outcomes than individuals with ASD that did not receive a diagnosis or clinical attention. Besides, those with earlier diagnosis may have more frequent encounters with the healthcare system, which could explain why the younger age group with ASD had lower mortality rates.…”

Screened potential risk factors for autism and autistic behaviour in children. Literature review

“…Low socioeconomic status leads to increased parental stress, resulting in less involvement in the education of children with ASD. Parents may feel frustration and stress, also associated with growing costs arising from the need to allocate significant amounts of money for rehabilitation, which can hinder their fulfillment of parental duties and, consequently, result in less engagement in the education of their children with ASD [21]. Results regarding the impact of parental education on the risk of ASD are inconclusive and may require further research [32].…”