Challenging Behavior and Parental Depression: The Effects of Everyday Stressors and Benefit Finding for Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Children with autism spectrum disorder present with challenging behaviors that can impact caregivers by increasing parental perceived stress and risk for depression. However, positive coping strategies have also been identified as protective factors for parents of children with ASD. The present stud...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders Vol. 53; no. 9; pp. 3356 - 3369
Autores principales: Vitale, Sarah Rose, Schneider, Hoa, Gardner, Lauren, Alessandri, Michael, Marker, Craig
Formato: research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: Springer Nature Sep2023
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:Children with autism spectrum disorder present with challenging behaviors that can impact caregivers by increasing parental perceived stress and risk for depression. However, positive coping strategies have also been identified as protective factors for parents of children with ASD. The present study examined parental perceived daily stressors and positive coping strategies (i.e., benefit finding) as mediators to depression for parents of children with ASD. A latent profile analysis identified three classes of behavior severity for children with ASD. Across all classes, higher levels of perceived daily stressors predicted increased parental depression, while benefit finding predicted lower parental depression. Results support interventions that increase positive coping strategies to decrease levels of depression in parents of children with ASD.