Fatigue, wellbeing and parental self-efficacy in mothers of children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Raising a child with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) presents significant challenges for parents that potentially have a impact on their health and wellbeing. The current study examined the extent to which parents experience fatigue and its relationship to other aspects of wellbeing and parenting. Fifty mothers of children with an ASD aged 2-5 years participated in the study. Compared with mothers of typically developing children, mothers of children with an ASD reported significantly higher fatigue, with overall scores in the moderate range. Factors associated with high levels of fatigue were poor maternal sleep quality, a high need for social support and poor quality of physical activity. Fatigue was also significantly related to other aspects of wellbeing, including stress, anxiety and depression, and lower parenting efficacy and satisfaction. The need for interventions to specifically target parental fatigue and its impact on families affected by ASDs both in the short and long term is clearly indicated.

Parent and Family Outcomes of PEERS: A Social Skills Intervention for Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…Replicating a finding by Giallo et al (2011), parenting selfefficacy was negatively associated with parenting stress, suggesting that parents who feel less confidence in their abilities feel more overwhelmed by the many demands of raising a child with an ASD. In addition, there was an inverse correlation between parenting selfefficacy and family chaos, a relationship that warrants further analysis.…”

“…Additionally, parents of children with ASD demonstrate decreased confidence in their parenting abilities. This decrease in parenting self-efficacy (PSE) is important to assess given the association between low PSE and increased levels of parenting stress in parents of children with disabilities (Giallo et al 2011). Sofronoff and Farbotko (2002) noted that increased PSE postintervention was associated with fewer reported child behavior problems, suggesting that increases in PSE provides a direct benefit to the child with ASD.…”

Correlação entre a oralidade de crianças com distúrbios do espectro do autismo e o nível de estresse de seus pais

“…Those studies and another one conducted in Australia (17) show that a large part of the participants quit working to stay at home and take care of the child with ASD. It was also observed in the participants of G1 and G2 of this research, where 55% of the children's caretakers reported to be house wives, without any paid employment or day-job.…”

The Role of Difficult Childhood Behaviors on Intimate Partner Violence

“…Further, delinquent behavior and emotional distress in children are directly related to the presence of stressors among caregivers [28,29], which may contribute to negative behavior between caregivers [30,31]. There is a positive correlation between difficult childhood behavior and caregiver frustration and dissatisfaction [28,32]. Developmental disability in a child can also have a significant impact on caregiver stress [33,34], often resulting in severe complications in the caregivers' primary relationship [35,36].…”