Impact of autism in adolescents on parental quality of life.

PURPOSE

To study the impact of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) on parental quality of life (QoL) at adolescence using the parental-developmental disorders-quality of life scale (Par-DD-QoL).

METHODS

One hundred and fifty-two mothers of adolescents with ASD completed Par-DD-QoL. This scale assesses the following dimensions: emotional, daily disturbance and global QoL. This cross-sectional study uses a subset of data collected at the final time of a follow-up study (EpiTED cohort).

RESULTS

A polytomic regression identified an increase in aberrant behavior scores as the major independent risk factor for parental QoL. The identified protective factors were the increase in daily living, communication and object cognition scores and a higher number of siblings.

CONCLUSIONS

Those results suggest that there is a negative effect of externalizing behaviors and a protective effect of adaptive skills, communication and object cognition on parental QoL. Study limitations and implications are discussed.