a School of Public Health and Psychosocial Studies , Auckland University of Technology , Auckland , New Zealand.
Anxiety Stress Coping. 2018 May;31(3):277-290. doi: 10.1080/10615806.2018.1442614. Epub 2018 Feb 20.
Parenting a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is challenging and can result in elevated levels of parenting stress. This study investigated the relationship between parent-ratings of their child's ASD symptoms and two conceptually different measures of parenting stress: One specific to the ASD context and the other a general stress measure applicable to the broader caregiving context. Additionally, the influence of coping style on the relationship between child's ASD symptoms and parenting stress was investigated.
Using an internet survey, parents (N = 178) caring for a child with ASD reported on coping strategies, completed two measures of parenting stress, and assessed their child's ASD symptoms.
Parenting stress increased with severity of the child's ASD symptoms, but the strength of this relationship depended on whether a general or disorder-specific measure of parenting stress was used. Regression analyses indicated that some coping strategies moderated the impact of ASD symptom severity on the parent's care-related stress, but moderation depended on how stress was conceptualized.
This study reinforces the importance of identifying the coping strategies of parents of children with developmental disorders, and highlights the consequences of using different conceptual approaches to measure parenting stress.
养育自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童具有挑战性，可能导致父母的育儿压力增加。本研究调查了父母对孩子 ASD 症状的评价与两种概念上不同的育儿压力测量方法之间的关系：一种是针对 ASD 背景的特定测量方法，另一种是适用于更广泛照护背景的一般压力测量方法。此外，还研究了应对方式对儿童 ASD 症状与育儿压力之间关系的影响。
通过互联网调查，照顾 ASD 儿童的父母（N=178）报告了应对策略，完成了两种育儿压力测量方法，并评估了他们孩子的 ASD 症状。
父母的育儿压力随孩子 ASD 症状的严重程度而增加，但这种关系的强度取决于使用一般压力测量方法还是特定于 ASD 的压力测量方法。回归分析表明，一些应对策略会调节 ASD 症状严重程度对父母照护相关压力的影响，但这种调节取决于如何概念化压力。
本研究强调了识别发育障碍儿童父母应对策略的重要性，并突出了使用不同概念方法测量育儿压力的后果。
