Relationship Satisfaction and Dyadic Coping in Couples with a Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Parent-couple satisfaction, parent depression, and child mental health in families with autistic children

Introduction

Within two-parent households, the parent-couple subsystem (marital or romantic partner relationship) is posited to shape the mental health of both parents and children. Autistic children and their parents have an elevated-risk for mental health problems. The present study longitudinally examined the mediating role of the quality of the parent-couple relationship in time-ordered pathways between changes in the mental health problems of autistic children and in parent depression symptoms at a within-family level.

Methodology

Using four time points of data collected on 188 families of autistic children (aged 5-12 years) across 3 years, the bidirectional associations between parent-couple relationship satisfaction, parent depressive symptoms, and child internalizing and externalizing mental health problems were investigated. Two multi-group (grouped by parent gender) complete longitudinal mediation models in structural equation modeling using Mplus software were conducted.

Results

Parent-couple relationship satisfaction mediated: (1) the association between higher parent depressive symptoms and higher child internalizing mental health problems 12 months later for both mothers and fathers, and (2) the association between higher child externalizing mental health problems and higher father depression symptoms 12 months later. Father depression symptoms mediated a pathway from lower parent-couple satisfaction to higher child internalizing mental health problems 12 months later, and mother depression symptoms mediated the pathway from higher child externalizing mental health problems to lower parent-couple satisfaction 12 months later.

Conclusion

Findings highlight the bidirectional and complex ways that parent and child mental health and the quality of the parent-couple relationship are entwined across time in families of autistic children. Family-wide interventions that address the needs of multiple family members and family systems are best suited to improve the mental health of parents and autistic children.

Impact of Respite Care Services Availability on Stress, Anxiety and Depression in Military Parents who have a Child on the Autism Spectrum

OBJECTIVE

Parenting an autistic child can affect a family's well-being. Finding resources is critical. This pilot study looked at respite's impact on parental stress, anxiety, and depression in military families and demographic factors associated with presence of respite care.

METHOD

Participants completed three surveys on anonymous basis, including two standardized surveys measuring parental stress and anxiety/depression. Data analysis used Chi-square test and regression analysis.

RESULTS

Parents receiving respite reported less stress and anxiety/depression. Respite utilization was associated with absence of comorbid conditions in child and other variables. Predictor variables for parental stress and anxiety/depression included presence of comorbid conditions in child.

CONCLUSION

Respite care may be linked to lower parental stress, anxiety, and depression, but more study is needed.

Child and parent factors predictive of mothers' and fathers' perceived family functioning

Understanding family functioning, particularly the risk and protective factors that may contribute to adaptive versus maladaptive family processes, is critical to promote child and family well-being and resilience. Guided by family systems theory and the family stress model, this study longitudinally investigated parents' and toddlers' individual-level challenges and parental internal resources as potential predictors of subsequent perceived family functioning (i.e., general family functioning and family conflict), while accounting for earlier couple functioning. First-time mothers' and fathers' reports of psychological distress, perceived child behavior problems, intrapersonal resources (i.e., coping, emotion regulation, and empathy), and couple functioning (i.e., relationship satisfaction and intimate partner violence victimization) were assessed when their child was 18 months and 4 years of age. Using autoregressive path models, results suggested that greater maternal distress and paternal perceptions of toddler behavior problems predicted later reports of perceived family dysfunction, whereas parental intrapersonal resources predicted more adaptive perceived family functioning. Overall, findings indicate mutual or bidirectional influence within the family, consistent with the family systems principle of reciprocal causality. Clinical implications are discussed, including the need to bolster parents' existing strengths as well as providing prevention and early screening of depressive symptoms among parents. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Emotional and behavioral problems in children with autism spectrum disorder and psychological distress in their parents in Saudi Arabia: The moderating effect of marital relationship satisfaction

BACKGROUND

There is a well-established association between emotional and behavioral problems in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), unmet family support needs, and psychological distress in their parents. However, no studies hypothesized a buffering effect of marital relationship satisfaction.

AIM

The aim of this research was to investigate the moderating effect of marital relationship satisfaction in the associations among emotional and behavioral problems in children with ASD, unmet family support needs, and anxiety and depression of their parents in the context of Saudi Arabia.

DESIGN AND METHODS

This cross-sectional study recruited parents from five rehabilitation centers for children with ASD in Saudi Arabia. Data were collected with surveys completed online. A sample of 93 parents (84% female, 4.3% were 24 or younger, 36.2% between 25 and 34 years old, 40.5% between 35 and 44, and 14.7% between 45 and 54) of children with ASD was obtained. Two models of multiple regression analysis were performed to determine the relationships.

RESULTS

About 56% of the parents had anxiety symptoms and 60% had depressive symptoms. Emotional and behavioral problems of children and higher levels of unmet family support needs were associated with higher levels of anxiety in parents, and adaptive behavior of children was associated with reduced levels of depression in parents. Relationship satisfaction moderated the impact of children's emotional and behavioral problems on parental anxiety.

CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS

The study highlighted the importance of marital relationship satisfaction in buffering the negative effects of ASD-related factors of children on the psychological well-being of their parents.

Parental self-efficacy and satisfaction with parenting as mediators of the association between children’s noncompliance and marital satisfaction

Parents of young children who exhibit behavioral problems often experience lower marital satisfaction. In the present study we aimed to explore the association between preschool children's noncompliant behavior and marital satisfaction, and to explain it through the mediating role of parental self-efficacy and satisfaction with parenting. Participants were 188 married Israeli couples with a typically developing child aged 3 to 6, selected in a convenience sample. Mothers and fathers independently completed measures of child’s behavior, marital satisfaction, parental self-efficacy, and satisfaction with parenting. Data were collected between September 2019 and February 2020 and were analyzed using the common fate model (CFM). Results indicate a direct, negative association between child's noncompliant behavior and marital satisfaction, which was fully explained by parental self-efficacy and satisfaction with parenting. The study suggests that both parents are affected by their young child’s noncompliance, with a spillover effect from the parent–child relationship into the marital relationship. The findings highlight the importance of early treatment of children's noncompliance and indicate that interventions aimed at enhancing parents’ self-efficacy and satisfaction, as well as the inclusion of both parents in treatment, may be beneficial.

Dyadic coping and coparenting among couples after their child's recent autism diagnosis

LAY ABSTRACT

We investigated how couples support each other after their child's autism diagnosis and whether this affects the way they work together to raise their child. We recruited 70 couples raising a child on the autism spectrum. Both partners were asked to complete the same questionnaires measuring how they perceived the experience of having a child on the autism spectrum, how they used their relationship to support each other during stressful situations, how competent they felt completing their parenting tasks, and the coparenting relationship to explore how they worked together as a team when parenting their child. Parents participated in the study 1-36 months after their child's autism diagnosis. We used statistical techniques that allowed us to see the impact mothers and fathers had on each other. Overall, parents who felt more competent and supported by their partner worked better as a team to raise their child on the spectrum. Fathers invested in the coparenting relationship more when mothers felt more supported by fathers. Mothers invested in the coparenting relationship more when fathers felt more competent parenting their child. Further research is needed to better understand how we can support couples as their child gets older.

Trajectories of Dysregulation in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Objective: This study determined whether child and family environment factors are associated with differences in developmental trajectories of emotional and behavioral dysregulation in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).Method: Participants included 186 families of a child with ASD (5-12 years old at baseline; 86% male; 83% non-Hispanic Caucasian; 35% comorbid intellectual disability). At each of the four time points (each spaced 12 months apart), mothers and fathers within each family completed well-validated measures on their own mental health, their child's dysregulation, their parent-child relationship, and their parent couple relationship. Longitudinal multi-level modeling was used to describe trajectories of dysregulation across 3 years and test whether parent depression, closeness in the parent-child relationship, and positive parent dyadic coping were associated with differences in child trajectories.Results: On average, child dysregulation decreased across time. Closer mother-child and father-child relationship quality was associated with lower baseline dysregulation. More severe child restricted and repetitive behaviors, fewer maternal depression symptoms, and more positive parent dyadic coping were associated with declines in child dysregulation over time.Conclusions: On average, children with ASD become less dysregulated across time. However, there is important variability in dysregulation trajectories of children with ASD. Children with ASD who have a high (versus low) severity of restricted and repetitive behaviors appear to be at risk for greater dysregulation. The family environment, and specifically a closer parent-child relationship, better maternal mental health, and more positive couple coping, may contribute to a pattern of improved child regulation across time in ASD.

Couples' Experiences of Parenting a Child After an Autism Diagnosis: A Qualitative Study

After a child is diagnosed with autism, parents' relationships are impacted as they reorganize their daily lives to support their child's specific needs. A better understanding of parenting couples' adaptation is needed to accompany them during this period. This qualitative study explored couples' experiences after their child's autism diagnosis. An inductive thematic analysis among ten couple interviews (N = 20) revealed three key themes: emotional experiences, external support, and adaptation. Overall, the quality of couples' relationships before having a child influenced their relationship after the diagnosis. In general, parents presented complementary coparenting roles, while different opinions about how to raise the child strained their relationship. Helping parents adapt to a diagnosis together could prove to be important for future interventions and research.

The Impact of Child Autistic Symptoms on Parental Marital Relationship: Parenting and Coparenting Processes as Mediating Mechanisms

Research shows that parenting a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with increased marital conflicts and reduced marital love. Less is known, however, about the potential mechanism underlying these associations. The present study tested a family process model linking child autism to parental marriage. We hypothesized that child autistic symptoms would be associated with increased marital conflicts and reduced marital love among parents of children with ASD, and that these associations would be mediated by parenting stress and coparenting conflicts. A total of 382 parents of children with ASD from Hong Kong, China completed questionnaire measures of child autistic symptoms, parenting stress, coparenting conflicts, marital conflicts, and marital love. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and Bootstrap analyses were conducted to analyze the relations among the variables. SEM showed that child autistic symptoms were related to higher levels of parenting stress and coparenting conflicts, which were, in turn, related to increased marital conflicts and reduced marital love among parents of children with ASD. Bootstrap analyses further demonstrated that child autistic symptoms had significant indirect effects on marital conflicts and marital love via parenting stress and coparenting conflicts. Theoretically, this study revealed the potential pathways through which child autism symptomatology may adversely impact the family processes and compromise the marital relationships of parents of children with ASD. Practically, this study pointed to the utility of helping parents of children with ASD to manage child autistic symptoms, alleviate parenting stress, and reduce coparenting conflicts in improving their marital qualities. LAY SUMMARY: This study showed that child autistic symptoms were related to higher levels of parenting stress and coparenting conflicts, which were, in turn, related to increased marital conflicts and reduced marital love among parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). These findings pointed to the importance of helping parents of children with ASD to manage child autistic symptoms, alleviate parenting stress, and reduce coparenting conflicts in improving their marital qualities. © 2020 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Autism Res 2020, 13: 1516-1526. © 2020 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Family resilience in stressful situations of disability in foreign studies

A review of foreign studies reflecting the problems of family resilience in the modern world is presented. Special emphasis is placed on studies of family resilience in stressful situations of disability of family members. It is shown that resilience of families having stressful experience of disability includes: 1) a system of family beliefs based on a positive outlook that contribute both to self-recovery after a traumatic experience and acceptance of their vulnerability; 2) patterns of family reactions to diseases allowing them to find life meaning in caring, and respond effectively to challenges of diseases, use adaptive capabilities to counteract violations, and organize themselves; 3) family communication skills and activity in problem solving; 4) family connectedness and flexibility, effective use of external support from social and non-government organizations. The family resilience construct is considered through closely related concepts of individual, family, and social resilience.

Examining the Links Between Received Network Support and Marital Quality Among Mothers of Children with ASD: A Longitudinal Mediation Analysis

Employing a cohort sequential design and multilevel modeling, the direct and indirect effects (via depressed mood, emotional wellbeing, and perceived support) of received network support on marital quality were assessed over a 7-year period (child age 7-14) on 96 married or cohabiting mothers of children with ASD. Findings indicated several significant direct and indirect effects affecting change within mothers over time, with effects varying by whether the support source was a spouse or partner, family members, or friends. In addition, one moderated mediation effect was noted, with the indirect effect of received spousal support on marital quality via perceived spousal support retaining significance only at low and moderate levels of child problem behavior severity. Study strengths, limitations, and clinical implications are discussed.

Dyadic coping in personal projects of romantic partners: assessment and associations with relationship satisfaction

In the present study we describe a context-sensitive, personal-projects-based approach to dyadic coping with stress which adapted the Dyadic Coping Inventory (DCI) for the assessment of dyadic coping strategies in stressful personal projects. In a cross-sectional study, 149 heterosexual Hungarian couples provided evaluations pertaining to their dyadic coping experiences in a stressful everyday project. Explorative factor analyses of personal project-related DCI items provided theoretically meaningful factor structures and the resulting subscales showed excellent reliability. The subscales’ predictive validity was tested in two dyadic analyses using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) whereby positive and negative dyadic coping experiences served as predictors of satisfaction with the dyadic coping process in particular, and with the relationship in general as outcomes. Our results showed that satisfaction with dyadic coping in personal projects is predicted only by the dyadic coping experiences of the respondents (the actor effect), while actor and partner effects proved to be predictive of relationship satisfaction. Negative partner experiences related to dyadic coping predicted lower relationship satisfaction of the female partner, while for males the positive experiences of the partner were found to be more predictive. These results confirm that the contextualized assessment of dyadic coping experiences in specific stressful personal projects is a reliable and valid method. Further methodological and theoretical conclusions are discussed.

Stress and Dyadic Coping in Personal Projects of Couples - A Pattern-Oriented Analysis

Relational accounts of goal striving have barely considered dyadic coping as an element of the process, nor has dyadic coping research utilized the unique advantages of the goal construct (e.g., in form of personal project assessment) so far. Therefore, the primary aim of the present study was to explore stress and dyadic coping experiences associated with the personal projects of partners in a close relationship. Moreover, we approached data analysis in a pattern-oriented way, instead of using variable-centered linear models. We used cross-sectional data from 270 married and cohabiting Hungarian heterosexual couples (mean age 40.1 ± 11.2 and 37.8 ± 10.9 years for male and female partners, respectively). Partners individually completed an adapted version of the Personal Project Assessment procedure. First, they named an important but stressful personal project. Respondents appraised their experiences with the chosen personal project along several predefined aspects. These included: (1) stress experiences; (2) dyadic coping, using the adapted Dyadic Coping Inventory; (3) positive emotions; and (4) sense of community. The Relationship Assessment Scale was also assessed. Cluster analysis of both partners' stress experiences, positive and negative dyadic coping strategies in their own personal projects revealed six relationship-level clusters. Cluster solutions represented typical variations of the stress and dyadic coping patterns of the couples, and could be arranged in a three- (lower, medium, and higher stress) by-two (positively vs. negatively balanced dyadic coping pattern) array. Further analyses indicated the general trend that couples with lower (vs. higher) stress together with more positively (vs. negatively) balanced dyadic coping may have experienced better functioning in projects (more positive emotions and higher sense of community) and higher relationship satisfaction. Results confirm that the partners' pursuit of their personal projects is embedded in their relationship, and their functioning in these projects may partly depend on dyadic coping with the stress that arises during the accomplishment of the project. By using a pattern-oriented approach to dyadic data, we were able to distill stress and coping patterns that capture the specific types of couples' relationships and indicate the non-linear and multidimensional nature of stress and dyadic coping processes.

It's time for a change!: The appreciative inquiry/bootcamp translation to address disparities in the Latino community with autism spectrum disorders

OBJECTIVE

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is underidentified and misidentified in the Latino community, and numerous barriers limit this community's ability to access quality health care for ASD. Appreciative inquiry/boot camp translation (AI/BCT) is a novel method of community engagement that can be used within community-based participatory research partnerships. AI/BCT uses qualitative methods to uncover strategies that the community is already successfully using and develops actionable messages to increase the use of those strategies throughout the community. We describe this method and outline how it is likely to be more effective at reducing disparities related to ASDs in the Latino community than traditional methods.

CONCLUSION

AI/BCT is a promising method of community engagement that is responsive to cultural differences. It is a strength-based approach focused on increasing the use of strategies that already work within the community. Therefore, it has the potential to reduce health disparities in the Latino community who have loved ones with autism ASD much more rapidly than traditional methods of inquiry. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).