Abstract
Background: Parents in different cultures show different psychological functioning when caring for a child with chronic disability such as Autistic Disorder. Arabs are united in a shared culture that is considered substantially different from their western counterparts. Nevertheless, no investigations regarding the experience of parenting a child with Autistic Disorder have been made in the Arab world yet. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the psychosocial impacts of raising children with Autistic Disorder in a sample from the Arab world. The study examined the levels of parenting stress, the coping strategies, and the levels of quality of life reported by Arab parents. Methods: Using a descriptive cross-sectional design, the convenience sample of the study consisted of 184 parents of children with Autistic Disorder. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires on parenting stress, coping strategies, and quality of life. Results: The results revealed that parents of children with Autistic Disorder experience significant high levels of parenting stress. Positive reappraisal was the most frequently used coping strategy among those parents. Meanwhile, confrontive coping was the least frequently used strategy. In regard to parents’ quality of life, parents reported poor physical, psychological, social, and environmental health scores, with mothers reporting relatively lower scores. The lowest scores for parents were reported on the environmental health domain. Conclusion: The findings from this study indicate that Jordanian parents of children with Autistic Disorder suffer significant impairments in their psychosocial health. Thus, those parents are in need for a wide range of support and educational programs that offer broad information about Autistic Disorder alongside with therapeutic and effective strategies to address their stressors and improve their quality of life.
Highlights
Autistic Disorder has been recently recognized as a major epidemic problem found in all racial and ethnic groups and across the socioeconomic continuum [1]
Parents of children with Autistic Disorder have been found to experience significantly higher levels of parenting stress and psychological distress compared with parents of typical children and parents of children with other developmental disabilities [5,6]
No studies have investigated the experiences of parents providing care to children with Autistic Disorder in the Arab world
Summary
Autistic Disorder has been recently recognized as a major epidemic problem found in all racial and ethnic groups and across the socioeconomic continuum [1] It is considered one of the most complex childhood developmental disabilities that can devastatingly affect children’s communication and social abilities [American Psychiatric Association (APA), 2000]. All the studies that have targeted parents of children with Autistic Disorder were conducted in western or developed eastern countries. No studies have investigated the experiences of parents providing care to children with Autistic Disorder in the Arab world. Arabs have their unique culture that is considered substantially different from westerners [7]. The study examined the levels of parenting stress, the coping strategies, and the levels of quality of life reported by Arab parents
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