Predictors of self-reported resilience in parents of autistic children

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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.