The Impact of the Diagnosis of Autism in Parents of Children

Abstract

The impact of the diagnosis in parents causes the cycle of family life will change profoundly, with serious disturbances in the reorganization and adjustments to this new reality. The objectives of the study aim to evaluate the quality of life of children / adolescent siblings of people with autism; to know the perception / opinion of the brothers on the impact that autism has had on family and check what kind of association between sociodemographic variables and of opinion on the impact of autism on the family and the QOL of participants. This is a study of the quantitative, non-experimental, descriptive correlational where 96 parents with autistic children participated kind. Data were collected through a questionnaire and a scale to assess the impact of the diagnosis of autism. The data show that on average the impact of the diagnosis of autism in parents showed moderate. Parents, mostly not yet managed to overcome the initial shock and showa great concern for the future of their children. The adjustments and changes made to the social level are dimensions where parents have lower difficulties. The data show that the impact of the diagnosis of autism in parents participating in the study was quite variable, depending on different variables, reinforcing the importance of continuity of studies on this topic in order to mitigate this impact.

Subjective Health Associated With The Quality Of Life Of Adolescents

“…It should be noted that according to the data published by the The results for overall QOL are very positive ( = 79.42) as the scale ranges from zero (poor QOL) to 100 (excellent QOL). These results concur with those of Martins et al (2015) and Górdia et al (2012), who report that the adolescents in the first cycles of study perceived a higher QOL than those that integrate more advanced study cycles.…”

“…Similarly, leisure time is also associated with lower values ( = 62.19), which means that adolescents have fewer opportunities to create and manage their social and leisure time. These results reinforce those of Martins et al, (2015) who report that low values in free time translate to feelings of restriction, oppression and dependence in adolescents; important factors for the definition of their identity.…”

“…Considering the dimensions that make up the scale used to assess QOL, we could verify that (in descending order) the seven most positive ones were: provocation / bullying ( = 88.09); economic issues ( = 83.75); family = 83.70); the friends ( = 81.67); the feelings ( = 81.09); the mood state ( = 79.06, dp = 18.26) and health ( = 76.49, dp = 16.46). In fact, we could see that these adolescents do not feel provoked and, on the contrary, they perceived good acceptance by the peers, similar to Martins' et al (2015) study. In economic matters, they feel that their family has purchasing power, which allows them to adopt lifestyles similar to that of their friends and to carry out activities together with their group (Gaspar et al, 2006).…”

“…The QoL of adolescents is described as a construct that encompasses components of well-being and physical function, as well as emotional, mental, social and behavioural components and how they (the adolescents) are perceived by themselves and by others (Gaspar et al, 2006;Martins et al, 2015).…”

Parental Stress and Children’s Self-Regulation Problems in Families with Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

“…In this vein, parents are faced with a range of emotional pressures as they attempt to learn about ASD and what this means for their child. Compared with parents of children with intellectual or other developmental disabilities, studies reveal that parents of children with ASD experience more psychological distress, including depression, anxiety, and components of stress, such as decreased family cohesion and increased somatic symptomatology ( Martins et al 2015 ).…”