Predictors of self-reported resilience in parents of autistic children

Abstract

BackgroundThough an emerging evidence base has documented the elevated stress and unique challenges among parents of autistic children, less is known about resilience. Based on the resilience-stress model (Fletcher & Sarkar, 2013; Masten, 2011), resilience may be a promising area of investigation given its inverse relationship with stress. MethodFifty parents of autistic children (4:0–10:11 years) self-reported resilience on the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) and completed additional questionnaires, which were categorized into three classes of predictors: psychological functioning, child factors and parenting stress, and positive mental health practices. Regression analyses were conducted to identify the amount of variance in CD-RISC scores explained by the overall model and each class of predictors. The relative strength of individual predictors was investigated. ResultsThe overall model accounted for 66% of the variance in self-reported resilience scores. Two classes of predictors were significant – psychological functioning and positive mental health practices – while child factors and parenting stress were not. Specifically, the class of psychological functioning variables accounted for 45% of the variance in resilience scores and positive mental health practices accounted for an additional 19%. The individual predictors of anxiety, stress, optimism, and self-compassion were the most robust. ConclusionsFindings indicate that certain factors – anxiety, stress, optimism, and self-compassion – are important in understanding self-reported resilience among some parents of autistic children. This may suggest treatment targets for resilience interventions. Continued investigations with larger, more representative samples are needed to expand the present findings.