Marital Satisfaction and Parenting Experiences of Mothers and Fathers of Adolescents and Adults With Autism

Abstract

The association of marital satisfaction with parenting burden and quality of the parent-child relationship was examined in 91 married mothers and fathers of co-residing adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorders. Within-couple differences between mothers and fathers in how child characteristics related to these parenting experiences were also evaluated. Multilevel modeling was used to control for the dependency in couple data. Marital satisfaction was an important predictor of parenting experiences, particularly for fathers. Mothers reported feeling closer to their son or daughter than did fathers. Fathers' parenting experiences were more strongly impacted by child characteristics than were mothers' parenting experiences. Results emphasized the connection between the marital relationship and parenting experiences and overlapping but unique experiences of mothers and fathers.Autism spectrum disorders are neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by impairments in communication, social reciprocity, and repetitive-restricted interests and behaviors (American Psychological Association, 2000). Due to the lifelong nature of autism spectrum disorders, mothers and fathers often continue to have active parenting responsibilities in their child's adolescence and adulthood (Krauss, Seltzer, & Jacobson, 2005). Parenting an adolescent or adult with an autism spectrum disorder presents unique challenges, including assisting the individual in navigating complex social relationships, transitioning out of school and into job and community settings, and planning for long-term care. The marital relationship may be a particularly important resource for dealing with these challenges. A spouse is often the primary source of emotional and instrumental support for parenting demands (Belsky, 1984), and this may be particularly true for parents of sons or daughters with an autism spectrum disorder, given their added parenting challenges. The parenting experiences of mothers and fathers also may be impacted by different aspects of the NIH Public Access Author ManuscriptAm J Intellect Dev Disabil. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2012 January 1. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript characteristics, functional abilities, and symptoms of their adolescent or adult son or daughter with an autism spectrum disorder. Unfortunately, fathers are infrequently included in research studies, and there is a paucity of comparative studies of parenting experiences in mothers versus fathers of adolescent or adult sons or daughters with an autism spectrum disorder.Our goals in this study were as follows: (a) to examine differences between mothers and fathersin the impact of marital satisfaction on parenting burden and quality of the parentchild relationship in families of co-residing adolescents and adults with an autism spectrum disorder and (b) to examine the impact of child characteristics, symptoms, and functioning on marital satisfaction and quality of the parent-child relationship in mother...

Marital Quality and Families of Children with Developmental Disabilities

“…Similarly, parent-reported severity of autism symptoms was not related to parental relationship status in the Freedman et al (2011) study of 913 children with an ASD. These findings are in line with the large body of research showing that parenting stress is more strongly associated with level of behavior problems than intellectual disability status or autism symptoms (e.g., Baker, Blacher, Crnic, & Edlebrock, 2002; Baker et al, 2003; Hartley, Barker, Seltzer, Floyd, & Greenberg, 2011). …”

“…The few studies on this topic show that parents indicate a strong association between marital satisfaction and the experience of parenting burden or stress (Essex & Hong, 2005; Essex, 2002; Hartley et al, in press; Kersh, Hedvat, Hauser-Cram, & Warfield, 2006). For instance, in our examination of 91 married mothers and fathers of co-residing adolescents and adults with an ASD, parents with above-average marital satisfaction were less burdened by their son or daughter than were parents with below-average marital satisfaction, after controlling for the level of their son or daughter's behavior problems (Hartley et al, 2011). …”

Parenting Stress of Children with Autistic Disorder

“…The authors found that marital satisfaction was an important predictor of parenting experiences, and mothers of children with autism showed close relationships with children more than fathers. These results were corroborated by a study by Hartley et al [46] They found that mothers felt a closer relationship to their children with autism, rather than with the fathers.…”

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

“…The increased chaos seen in families of children with ASD may also contribute to increased parental conflict and decreased marital satisfaction seen in these families (Brobst et al 2009;Gau et al 2011;Harper et al 2013;Hartley et al 2011). The presence of emotional strain and relationship difficulties likely make it more difficult for children with ASD to learn appropriate social behaviors, as more maladaptive interactions are modeled by caregivers who are frequently engaged in conflict.…”