Social support and coping strategies of parents raising a child with autism spectrum disorder

ABSTRACT

The current study sought to explore the psychological and social needs of parents within the same family unit raising a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Mothers (N = 10) and fathers (N = 9) of children with ASD attending an early intervention centre completed a semi-structured interview investigating their experiences of raising a child with ASD. Both genders reported adopting problem-focused coping strategies, engaging in ‘me time’ activities, and disengaging from a stressor in an effort to cope. More mothers reported engaging in emotion-focused strategies and accessing social support for emotional and practical support. The presence of traditional gender roles emerged as a potentially significant factor in understanding how mothers and fathers adopt different types of coping strategies.

KEYWORDS:

• Autism
• ASD
• parents
• coping
• gender
• social support

Acknowledgements

We wish to thank the parents that participated in this research. We wish to also thank James McDermott for his helpful feedback on an earlier version of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Te Ana Pepperell is a recent graduate of the Masters of Educational and Developmental Psychology at Queensland University of Technology and is a registered psychologist in Australia.

Jessica Paynter is a Lecturer in the School of Applied Psychology at Griffith University, Gold Coast, and is a registered psychologist in Australia. She has worked with children with developmental disabilities including Autism Spectrum Disorder across both research and clinical practice.

Linda Gilmore is Professor of Educational and Developmental Psychology at Queensland University of Technology in Australia. Her research focuses on developmental disabilities, in particular Down syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorder and rare chromosome disorders.