Stress Levels and Adaptability in Parents of Toddlers with and without Autism Spectrum Disorders

Abstract

The toddler years can be a particularly stressful time for all parents, however, parents of children with disabilities may experience additional sources of stress. Recent literature on early education for children with disabilities promotes inclusion with typical peers with increases in the availability of inclusive programs. However, little is known about early intervention inclusion programs and parental factors such as stress and adaptability. The current study expands the research for children with disabilities by investigating the associations of having a young child with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) on multiple dimensions of parental stress for mothers and fathers and how participation in an inclusive toddler program may be related to these stress levels. Results for this community sample are consistent with previous research indicating that that both mothers and fathers of children with ASD report significantly elevated levels of both child and parent related stress in comparison with parents of typically developing toddlers. Following their child's participation in the inclusion program, mothers of children with ASD report significant reductions in child-related stress but no reductions in the parent-related stress domain. No changes were seen with either child or parent domain for fathers. Lastly, a child's level of social skills was a significant predictor of child-related maternal stress for children with autism. This pattern was not seen in fathers of these children. Implications for early intervention program modifications, such as increasing family support and incorporating adjunctive parent interventions for parents with elevated levels of stress are discussed.

Interactions of fathers and their children with autism1

“…Only in the last of the three areas fathers of children with autism obtained better results than fathers of children with Down syndrome. This result is consistent with the data obtained by Baker-Ericzen et al (2005), who found that fathers of children with autism perceive a negative impact of the child on family plans and increasing financial strain related to caregiving. By way of comparison, it is worth mentioning that the differences in stress profiles between mothers of children with autism and mothers of children with Down syndrome are much more profound and occur in seven areas: overprotection/ dependency, lack of social support, limits on family opportunity, physical incapatitation, lack of activities for index case social obtrusiveness and difficult personality characteristics (Pisula, 2007).…”

“…Secondly, fathers of children with that disorder exhibit a high level of stress. Some 35% of them were found to have a significantly increased stress level directly associated with providing care for their child (Baker-Ericzen, Brookman-Frazee & Stahmer, 2005). Fathers of children with autism experience more stress than fathers of normally developing children (e.g.…”

“…Fathers of children with autism experience more stress than fathers of normally developing children (e.g. Baker-Ericzen et al, 2005), and fathers of children with other disorders, e.g. Down syndrome (Fisman & Wolf, 1991;Wolf, Noh, Fisman & Speechley, 1989).…”

The Brief Family Distress Scale: A Measure of Crisis in Caregivers of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders

“…Such a large percentage of Moderate impairment suggests that even in a community sample, many families of individuals with ASD experience significant distress (Baker-Ericzén et al, 2005). If data were collected from tertiary-level or crisis-related services, we might expect to find a higher percentage of Marked impairment (Weiss & Lunsky, 2010).…”

Family-oriented nursery approach to despair levels of the parents of children with cardiac disease and down syndrome

“…Bu nedenle, umudun engelli çocuk anne ve babaları için önemi oldukça büyük-tür. Bu ebeveynler çocuklarının müdahale programları ile korumak ve çocuklarının bakımına yönelik tüm gereksinimleri karşılamakla hükümlüdür (22). Lawoko ve Soares'in (25) konjenital kalp hastalıklı çocukların aileleri, diğer hastalıklı çocukların aileleri ve sağlıklı çocukların aileleri arasındaki stres ve umutsuzluk düzeyleri üzerine yapmış oldukları çalışmada, konjenital kalp hastalıklı çocukların ailelerinin, anneler daha fazla karamsar olmakla birlikte sağlıklı çocuk-ların ailelerine göre gelecek hakkında daha karamsar olduğunu saptamışlardır.…”