Parents' pandemic stress, parental involvement, and family quality of life for children with autism

Abstract

BackgroundResearch has shown that parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) suffered high levels of stress during the COVID-19 pandemic and faced poor family quality of life (FQOL). However, little is known about the inherent dynamic interaction between pandemic stress and FQOL, especially in the Chinese cultural context.AimsThis study provides preliminary evidence by examining the relationships among pandemic stress, parental involvement, and FQOL for children with autism in mainland China.MethodA total of 709 parents of children with autism completed measures of FQOL, parental involvement, and pandemic stress. Structural equation modeling was employed to examine the interrelations among these variables.ResultsPandemic stress has direct effect and indirect effect mediated by parental involvement on FQOL. Two dimensions of pandemic stress had a direct effect on FQOL (β1 = 0.11; β2 = −0.55) and three dimensions had an indirect effect on FQOL through parental involvement (β1 = −0.097; β2 = 0.257; β3 = 0.114).ConclusionStress related to the COVID-19 pandemic affects family quality of life for children with autism in complex ways. Policies may be developed to enhance parental pragmatic hopefulness in the anti-epidemic victory and alleviate negative physical and mental reactions caused by the pandemic.

What happened to parents’ views of school success for autistic children during the COVID-19 pandemic?

“…Raising the level of pragmatic hopefulness among parents of autistic children requires the attention and support of the government and society. On the one hand, schools and medical institutions should help families of autistic children to establish rational and optimistic perceptions about the pandemic, learn to self-regulate during the special period, and use their resources rationally ( 5 , 61 ). On the other hand, public health departments should conduct a series of courses and lectures related to the pandemic to help parents of autistic children acquire knowledge about the pandemic’s impact on their health and their children’s development ( 73 , 74 ).…”

“…An increase in risk perception and concern was followed by a decrease in parental involvement, which was, in turn, followed by a decrease in parents’ views on their children’s academic and social success. Risk perception and concern about the COVID-19 pandemic risk may have distracted parents of autistic children from being involved in their children’s learning and lives ( 5 ), resulting in lower levels of parental involvement.…”

“…This study uses the Pandemic Stress Scale ( 5 ) to measure stress resulting from experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic. This measurement tool employs a five-point Likert-type scale and was developed by Wang et al ( 26 ), who designed nine items divided into three factors.…”

“…Parents of autistic children are often subjected to many stressors and challenges that may affect their emotional and psychological well-being and expectations for their children’s future education ( 2 , 3 ). The uncertainty and risks associated with the pandemic have increased the burden and stress on parents and may increase their concerns about their children’s health and future ( 4 , 5 ). Although previous studies have demonstrated changes in views of school success among parents of deaf or hard-of-hearing children during a pandemic ( 6 , 7 ), fewer studies have examined, from a more systematic perspective, the impact of pandemic stress on views of school success of parents of autistic children.…”

Family quality of life and family-school collaboration during the COVID-19 pandemic: perceptions of Swedish parents of adolescents with special educational needs

“…These measures have unprecedentedly affected lives and well-being of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their families due to disruption of educational support, individualized behavioral interventions, childcare support, or other services and programs (Ziauddeen et al, 2020;Lee et al, 2021). Research has shown that due to the pandemic, parents of children with SEND experienced tremendous challenges trying to balance the demands of meeting educational and socioemotional needs of their children and other family responsibilities, which resulted in increased parenting stress, depression, anxiety and unsatisfactory family quality of life (Asbury et al, 2021;Couper-Kenney and Riddell, 2021;Chen et al, 2022;Sideropoulos et al, 2022;Xu et al, 2023).…”