Correlative research in parenting stress, social support and coping style in mothers of children with autism

Abstract

Objective To explore the relationship between parenting stress and social support, cop-ing style in mothers of children with autism. Methods 105 mothers with autistic children(the observation group) and 100 mothers with healthy children (the control group) were investigated by questionnaires, which included parenting stress index-short form (PSI-SF), social support scale and simplified coping style questionnaire. And then the relationship between parenting stress, social support and coping style was ana-lyzed among them. Results Mothers of children with autism experienced a significantly higher level in the total score of parenting stress and all the domains when compared with mothers of healthy children. Par-enting stress was negatively correlated with social support. Conclusions Mothers of children with autism generally experience a significantly higher level than parents of healthy children in the total parenting stress and all the domains. Social support could reduce parenting stress of mothers with autistic children. Key words: Children with antism; Parenting stress; Social support; Coping style