Social support and family quality of life in Chinese families of children with autism spectrum disorder: the mediating role of family cohesion and adaptability

Abstract

Background

The current study examined the interrelations among social support, family quality of life (FQOL), and family cohesion and adaptability in Chinese families of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Methods

A sample of 163 caregivers of children with ASD in China were surveyed with the Social Support Rating Scale, Beach Center Family Quality of Life Scale, and Chinese version of Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scale II, respectively. We used structural equation modeling to examine the mediating role of family cohesion and adaptability on the relationship between social support and FQOL.

Results

The results indicated that social support had a positive impact on FQOL and that family cohesion and adaptability completely mediated the relationship between social support and caregivers’ satisfaction on FQOL.

Conclusions

Facilitating family cohesion and adaptability by providing social support may be beneficial to help families of children with ASD improve their FQOL. The findings identified the need for developing targeted interventions for this population.

Keywords:

• autism spectrum disorder
• caregivers
• social support
• family quality of life
• family cohesion
• family adaptability

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all the families who donate their time participating in this study and all the teachers in the special education schools who helped to contact with the participants.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Sichuan Applied Psychology Research Center (CSXL-172014), Sichuan Special Education Development Research Center (SCTJ-2019-03), and Leshan Normal University (S16001).