Download Free The Broader Autism Phenotype And Marital Satisfaction Among Parents Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders Book in PDF and EPUB Free Download. You can read online The Broader Autism Phenotype And Marital Satisfaction Among Parents Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders and write the review.

The present study aimed to investigate the factors contributing to high marital maladjustment among parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This population of parents experience greater levels of stress and child problem behaviors than parents of neurotypical children. However, these two factors alone cannot predict 100% of the variance in marital satisfaction ratings among parents of children with ASD. Additionally, recent research suggests that a subgroup of these parents is also more likely to display elevated autistic-like traits, a phenomenon referred to as the broader autism phenotype (BAP). The nature of the deficits in autism spectrum disorders and the findings from the BAP research have important implications for dyadic functioning. The present study endeavored to explore if and how autistic-like symptoms in parents may be impacting each partner's marital satisfaction. Eight participants completed the online survey that included measures of autistic symptoms, marital adjustment, parent stress, and child problem behaviors. Due to a small sample, this study was unable to address the original research questions. Ways to improve the present study and areas for continued study are discussed.
Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2015 in the subject Psychology - Clinic and Health Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, James Cook University, language: English, abstract: Lovisotto, R., Caltabiano, N., & Hajhashemi, K. (2015). Parental stress, affective symptoms and marital satisfaction in parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 5(10), 30-38. Parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), a life-long developmental disorder, responded to an online survey considering their stress experience, affective symptoms and marital satisfaction. As these parents sourced different programs for their children, type of program was used to assign parents to different groups in order to consider their stress, affective symptoms and marital satisfaction. The type of programs parents used included the Applied Behaviour Analysis (n=15); Early Intervention Centre (n=13) and no formal program (n=16). Parents of children with ASD in the ABA group reported significantly lower parental stress scores, lower affective symptoms scores and higher marital satisfaction scores compared to the other two groups. These results are suggestive of the beneficial effect that an ABA program can have on the family unit.
[A]n often ignored aspect of parenting and family work is the responsibility-related caregiving (i.e. the monitoring, arranging, and planning) that is done to ensure that a child is cared for. Among fathers and mothers who have a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the intensity of meeting these needs is greater than for a typically developing child (e.g. additional coordination of schooling, interventions, healthcare, recreation, respite, and after-school services). As is the case for all parents, they must also attend to the demands of household labor (e.g. car maintenance, groceries, laundry, yard care), nurture their relationships (e.g. partner, friends, other family members) and find time to pursue interests outside of the home. The aim of this study was to examine parents' management of and satisfaction with the division of responsibility-related caregiving and household labor, parenting stress, the couple's relationship quality, and family functioning among parents of children with an ASD. Fathers (n = 66) and mothers (n = 104) of school-age children with an ASD responded to an online questionnaire. Most parents (mean 41.4 y.) were white (95%) and well-educated (98% had at least some college). All lived in the United States with the child and the child' s other parent. Parents provided information about their child (82% boys, mean 8.8 y.), including level of functioning. Fathers managed less responsibility-related caregiving than mothers, but they did not differ in their management of household labor. Parents were most satisfied with how the family work was shared when they managed less of it; however, when one parent always managed the work, satisfaction with the couple' s relationship was lowest and parenting stress was highest. Satisfaction with how the family work was shared was positively associated with overall family functioning. In general, parents, couples, and families fare better when the management of family work is shared between parents. Findings will further our understanding of the experience of fathers and mothers who have a child with an ASD, and may aid in our efforts to best support families affected by the autism spectrum disorders.
Little research has examined the adaptive processes and co-parenting behaviors in the context of broad autism phenotype (BAP). The overarching goal of my dissertation research was to enhance the understanding of how BAP is associated with parent-couple and co-parenting relationship quality. This research draws from a sample of families of a child with ASD (N = 189) and a comparison group of families (N = 185) parenting typically developing children (without neurodevelopmental disabilities). The first study examined the association of actor and partner effects of BAP characteristics (aloofness, pragmatic language, and rigidity) for mothers and fathers on positive and negative dyadic coping behaviors. Results suggested that BAP characteristics were present across parenting groups with parents in the ASD group reporting higher BAP characteristics than parents in the comparison group. Findings indicated that actor rigidity (one's own) was a significant predictor of lower levels of positive dyadic coping and higher levels of negative dyadic coping. Actor aloofness was also significantly associated with lower levels of positive dyadic coping. The second examined the role of BAP on the co-parenting relationship and children's co-occurring emotional and behavioral problems among parents of children with ASD. Findings suggested that BAP is associated with lower levels of co-parenting relationship quality through actor and partner pathways. For fathers, co-parenting relationship quality was a partial mediator of parental BAP on children's co-occurring emotional and behavioral problems. Study implications and future directions are discussed.Keywords: broad autism phenotype, autism, co-parenting relationship quality, dyadic coping