Impact of child factors on parenting stress of mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability: a UK school-based study

ABSTRACT

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are at risk for high stress levels. Multiple child factors have been identified as predictors of stress in parents of children with ASD, but factors associated with stress in parents of children with ASD and comorbid intellectual disability (ASD-ID) are not well understood. This study examined the role of child’s age, social impairment, executive functions and adaptive skills on parenting stress in mothers of children with ASD-ID. Mothers of 133 children with ASD-ID (aged 4–11 years) completed the Parenting Stress Index–Short Form, the Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Function, the Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scales, and the Social Responsiveness Scale. Mothers’ stress varied according to the child’s educational stage and associated with poor metacognition. No associations were found between parenting stress, age and adaptive skills of children. Social impairment also predicted parenting stress above and beyond child factors. Theoretical implications are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Autism spectrum disorder
• distress
• parents
• parenting stress

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge their gratitude to the participating mothers and children.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Compliance with ethical standards

Ethical approval: All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Stella Tsermentseli

Stella Tsermentseli is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Psychology, Social Work & Counselling at the University of Greenwich, UK. Her research has a cross-disciplinary focus, integrating theories and methods from the sub-disciplines of Clinical, Developmental Psychology and Neuropsychology. Her current research focuses on the study of neuro-cognitive bases of developmental disorders, as well as what these disorders tell us about typical development.

Evangelia-Chrysanthi Kouklari

Evangelia-Chrysanthi Kouklari is an Early Career Researcher. Her research interests lie in the fields of developmental psychology, autism research, and neuropsychology. Her PhD research was focused on the developmental trajectories of the executive functions in children and adolescents with and without autism spectrum disorder.