Abstract
Background: Autism is a lifelong disability and, a broad spectrum disorder of unknown cause appears during the first three years of life. Aim: The present study aimed to assess the knowledge, strains and coping of the family caregivers having autistic children (descriptive study). Setting: The study was conducted in Children & Adolescent Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic in Suez Canal University Hospital, El-Terbia El-Fekria, El-Salam El-Engelia, Gamal El-Din El-Afghani and Ard El-Mashtl Primary Schools, Wyana Institution for Integration and Rehabilitation, El-Aml Center for Children with Special Needs, El-Tathkief El-Fekri Institution and the Psychiatric Measures Clinic at Ismalia city. Sample: Included 36 caregivers and 36 autistic children. Data were obtained through an interview with the studied caregivers using three tools: structured interview questionnaire, caregiver strain questionnaire-short form and brief cope scale. Results: Revealed that 44.4% of the studied caregivers had unsatisfactory total knowledge regarding autism, 77.8% of the studied caregivers' total strains mean scores were high and the 97.2% of the studied caregivers had high total coping mean scores.Conclusion: The studied caregivers had unsatisfactory total knowledge mean score (regarding autism, strains and coping), had high total strains mean scores and had high total coping mean scores. Recommendation: Emphasize the importance of carrying out educational programs to improve knowledge of autistic children's care givers regarding their autistic children's needs and care. Also regular assessment and monitoring of the studied family care givers' strains and coping is recommended.
Highlights
Children are highly appreciated by the society because of their potential future contributions
Regarding the studied caregivers' occupation, it was found that 55.6% of the studied mothers were housewives
The findings of the current study revealed that less than two thirds of the studied children's parents had enough income were supported by the study of Bilder (2009), entitled ''Prenatal, perinatal and neonatal factors associated with autism spectrum disorders" and that of El-Baz et al (2011), who found that less than half of autistic children were of a high social class as most of their parents were professional doctors and engineers
Summary
Children are highly appreciated by the society because of their potential future contributions. The family care givers having autistic children have different sources of stressors experiencing either objective or subjective strains or both of them at the same time. Aim: The present study aimed to assess the knowledge, strains and coping of the family caregivers having autistic children (descriptive study). Results: Revealed that 44.4% of the studied caregivers had unsatisfactory total knowledge regarding autism, 77.8% of the studied caregivers' total strains mean scores were high and the 97.2% of the studied caregivers had high total coping mean scores. Conclusion: The studied caregivers had unsatisfactory total knowledge mean score (regarding autism, strains and coping), had high total strains mean scores and had high total coping mean scores. Regular assessment and monitoring of the studied family care givers' strains and coping is recommended.
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