Hastings R P, Johnson E
Department of Psychology, University of Southampton, Highfield, UK.
J Autism Dev Disord. 2001 Jun;31(3):327-36. doi: 10.1023/a:1010799320795.
There is increasing international interest in intensive home-based behavioral intervention for children with autism. In the present study, 141 UK parents conducting such interventions completed a questionnaire addressing issues of stress, coping, and support. Regression analyses showed that parents' stress levels were predicted mainly by psychological rather than demographic variables. In particular, adaptive coping strategies, informal social support sources, and beliefs about the efficacy of the intervention were associated with lower reported stress and higher levels of autism symptomatology were associated with higher reported stress. There was also evidence that the use of Passive Appraisal coping and beliefs about the efficacy of the interventions moderated the effects of autism symptomatology on parents' pessimism. Implications of these findings for future research and for the support of families engaged in intensive home-based behavioral intervention are discussed.
国际上对针对自闭症儿童的强化家庭行为干预的兴趣与日俱增。在本研究中，141名实施此类干预的英国父母完成了一份关于压力、应对方式和支持问题的问卷。回归分析表明，父母的压力水平主要由心理变量而非人口统计学变量预测。具体而言，适应性应对策略、非正式社会支持来源以及对干预效果的信念与较低的报告压力相关，而较高的自闭症症状水平与较高的报告压力相关。也有证据表明，消极评估应对方式的使用以及对干预效果的信念调节了自闭症症状对父母悲观情绪的影响。讨论了这些发现对未来研究以及对参与强化家庭行为干预的家庭支持的意义。
