Brennan Justine, Davis Thompson E
Department of Psychology, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA.
Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA.
J Autism Dev Disord. 2025 May 30. doi: 10.1007/s10803-025-06870-4.
Increased caregiving demands from raising an autistic child result in reduced social support, increased parenting stress, and decreased relationship satisfaction for their parents. While social support is protective against parental stress and can increase relationship satisfaction, few studies have examined the relationships between the support networks, functions of support (e.g., informational, emotional, and instrumental), and well-being of parents of autistic children. This study surveyed 112 parents (73 mothers and 39 fathers) of autistic children (aged 5-12 years) online to examine the relationships between (1) who was identified as a primary support person (PSP), (2) which functions of support parents perceived from their PSP, (3) how stressed parents reported they were, and (4) how satisfied parents were with their relationship with their PSP. Results indicated parents most frequently identified a friend or family member as their PSP, emotional support was the most frequently identified function of support, and emotional support had the strongest association with relationship satisfaction. The results of this study provide a foundation for future studies on the implications of support networks, functions of perceived support, and stress on the relationship satisfaction of parents of autistic children.
抚养自闭症儿童带来的照料需求增加，导致父母获得的社会支持减少、育儿压力增大以及对亲子关系的满意度降低。虽然社会支持能抵御父母压力并提升关系满意度，但很少有研究探讨自闭症儿童父母的支持网络、支持功能（如信息、情感和工具性支持）与幸福感之间的关系。本研究对112名自闭症儿童（5至12岁）的父母（73名母亲和39名父亲）进行了在线调查，以考察以下几方面的关系：（1）谁被确定为主要支持人（PSP）；（2）父母从其主要支持人那里获得的支持功能有哪些；（3）父母报告的压力程度如何；（4）父母对与主要支持人的关系满意度如何。结果表明，父母最常将朋友或家庭成员确定为主要支持人，情感支持是最常被提及的支持功能，且情感支持与关系满意度的关联最强。本研究结果为未来研究支持网络、感知到的支持功能以及压力对自闭症儿童父母关系满意度的影响奠定了基础。
