The Mediating Role of Social Support in the Relationship Between Parenting Stress and Resilience Among Chinese Parents of Children with Disability

The relationship between parental stress and treatment adherence in parents of children with neurodevelopmental disorders: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) require long-term medical care from clinicians and high-level daily support from their parents throughout the lifespan. Parents, as the primary caregivers, serve as major providers of daily care and important supporters of medical services.

OBJECTIVE

This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the relationship between parental stress and treatment adherence, while also examining the roles of family resilience and affiliate stigma in this dynamic among parents of children with NDDs.

METHOD

Utilizing a convenience sampling approach, we recruited parents of children with NDDs to participate in an online survey. The survey included validated measures assessing parental stress, treatment compliance, family resilience, and affiliate stigma. Descriptive statistics were computed to summarize demographic characteristics and key study variables. Pearson correlation analyses were conducted to examine the bivariate relationships among the key study variables. Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to identify predictive factors of treatment compliance. Mediation analysis was performed using the PROCESS macro for SPSS to explore the effect of affiliate stigma and family resilience on the relationship between parental stress and treatment compliance.

RESULT

A total of 310 parents of children with NDDs participated in the online survey. Pearson correlation analysis revealed that treatment compliance was negatively correlated with parental stress (r = -0.385, p < 0.001) and affiliate stigma (r = -0.787, p < 0.001), while treatment compliance was positively correlated with family resilience (r = 0.856, p < 0.001). Multiple linear regression analysis indicated that parental stress (β = - 0.091, p < 0.001) and affiliate stigma (β = - 0.410, p < 0.001) were significant negative predictors of treatment compliance, while family resilience (β = 0.576, p < 0.001) was a significant positive predictor of treatment compliance. Moderated mediation analysis revealed that affiliate stigma mediated while family resilience moderated the relationship between parental stress and treatment compliance (all p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

This study underscores the complex interplay between parental stress, affiliate stigma, family resilience, and treatment adherence among parents of children with NDDs. The findings advocate for both clinical efforts and academic initiatives focused on developing targeted support programs and intervention strategies. These measures aim to alleviate parental stress, reduce affiliate stigma, and enhance family resilience, ultimately promoting treatment adherence and optimizing developmental outcomes for children.

Parental involvement and adjustment during the diagnostic evaluation of autism spectrum disorder at two diagnostic centers

OBJECTIVES

The primary objective of this study was to determine the effects of permanent, mediated parental presence during all autism spectrum disorder diagnostic evaluations on parental adjustment (perceived parental stress and sense of parental competence) compared with procedures that traditionally only involve parents in pivotal periods of the diagnosis. The level of satisfaction with the diagnostic procedure and parents' needs were also evaluated to complete this first objective. The secondary objective was to assess the effects of psychosocial, individual, and contextual variables on perceived parental stress and sense of parental competence.

METHODS

The total sample of 49 parents was divided (using simple randomization) into two subgroups, each for a different procedure. Participants were met with once before the first consultation and once after. They completed self-reported questionnaires on parental stress, sense of parental competence, satisfaction with the procedure, social support, locus of control, and appraisal of life events. Statistical analysis was conducted using SPAD and SPSS software.

RESULTS

There was no difference between the two groups in the variables assessed. Satisfaction with the diagnostic procedure was high in both groups, but parents highlighted that they had important needs following the diagnosis. The child's level of autonomy, the presence of disruptive behaviors, and satisfaction with social support were found to be important for determining parental adjustment.

CONCLUSIONS

Several hypotheses may explain the lack of differences between the two groups, including that parents may not yet have been in a position to benefit from the procedure aimed at integrating them. Our suggestion is that professional interventions should focus on improving the child's autonomy and helping the parent to develop a satisfactory support network. Finally, parents' needs for the post-diagnosis phase should be given greater consideration, particularly in future research.

Cognitive and Emotional Resilience in Parents with Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder During COVID-19: The Role of Promoting Variables

The pandemic resulting from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has entailed social and psychological consequences for the Spanish population, with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) being particularly vulnerable due to their genetic characteristics. The present study focuses on the efforts of parents of children with autism spectrum disorder to improve their situation during the pandemic. In particular, the objective is to identify promoting variables (subjective well-being, positive mental health, social support, humour, cognitive reappraisal, and self-esteem) and sociodemographic variables that predict resilience, marking positive coping with this adverse situation. Furthermore, the study conceptually explores the potential role of emotional intelligence in resilience-building processes. We hypothesised that higher scores in these promoting variables would predict greater resilience, with emotional intelligence potentially serving as an underlying framework. The methodology employed in this study is as follows: A cross-sectional predictive study was conducted on a sample of 799 parents using an online questionnaire administered during the social confinement resulting from the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The information analysed is based on data provided by the parents. Statistical methods included Student's t-tests, Pearson's correlations, and stepwise multivariate regression analysis to identify predictors of resilience. The results of the study are presented below. Significant resilience scores and resilience prediction were identified in participants based on positive mental health, emotion regulation, sense of humour, social support, age, and employment status (self-employed). Relations with emotional intelligence were identified, particularly in the domains of emotion regulation, cognitive reappraisal, and positive mental health. Discussion: The necessity of an intervention that prioritises the empowerment of resilience in the target population is substantiated. Practical implications suggest leveraging emotional intelligence strategies to enhance resilience in this population. This study highlights the importance the aforementioned variables, in addition to potential strategies for enhancing the sociodemographic circumstances of the families.

Relationships Between Family Sense of Coherence, Coping and Role Performance in Parents of Children with Disabilities: Structural Equation Modeling

This descriptive study was designed with a clear focus: to use structural equation modeling to determine the intricate relationships between family sense of coherence, coping, and role performance in parents of children with disabilities. The study was conducted with a sample of 185 parents of children receiving special education at the primary school level in a province in Türkiye. Data was collected using a parent introduction form, the Family Sense of Coherence Scale-short form (FSOC-S), the Family Role Performance (FRP) scale, and the Revised-COPE Scale (R-COPE). The effect of FSOC-S on FRP and R-COPE was statistically significant. The effect of FRP on R-COPE was statistically significant. Moreover, FSOC-S predicted 22.4% of FRP, while FSOC-S and FRP predicted 17.1% of R-COPE. The study's findings underscore the urgent need for interventions to improve the family's sense of coherence and positive coping attitudes. These interventions are crucial for parents to effectively manage the challenges they face while caring for a child with a disability. The study also highlights the significant role of positive coping attitudes and family sense of coherence in enhancing role performance in parents of children with disabilities.

Developing a new questionnaire of positive contributions to Chinese families by children with autism spectrum disorder

Background and Aims

A literature review of both Eastern and Western literature regarding families of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) revealed limited empirical research that examines ASD in China. Furthermore, most research in this area comes from a deficit model and there is a lack of research that comes from a strengths background. No previous study in China has looked at the positive contributions of children with ASD to their families. The present study came from a strengths-based perspective and aimed to develop a new questionnaire to evaluate the positive contributions made to families by children who have ASD in China and are raised by their respective families. It considered the severity level of the children's disorder and the impact this had on the parents. Besides examining the children's impairment levels, the study also examined positive contributions and their relationship with socio-demographic elements such as family income and employment status of the parents, which also seem to be related to the positive contributions experienced by the parents.

Methods

First, based on the literature review, an initial qualitative interview protocol was developed and administered to 10 parents of children with ASD. Then, based on the analyses of the interviews, a quantitative questionnaire was developed to assess the positive contributions of children with ASD to their families. The questionnaire was then administered to 156 parents of children with ASD. The internal structure of the questionnaire was analyzed by factor analysis. The questionnaire's reliability and validity were also examined. The data were then analyzed with multiple correlation comparisons and an independent sample T-test.

Results

Six factors emerged for families of children with ASD. The results showed that the cumulative explanatory variance of the six dimensions of the questionnaire was 65.42%. The Cronbach's coefficient of each dimension was between 0.7 and 0.9, and the combined Cronbach's coefficient of the total questionnaire was 0.945. This study found that the overall average positive contribution to families by children with ASD was 3.32, which is at a medium level, and all six dimensions were at a medium-to-high level. This study also found that the family's monthly income contributed to the overall positive contribution, intimacy and happiness, and gaining more special knowledge through experience dimensions. Furthermore, it was found that moderate severity of ASD, high income, and parental employment were all associated with more positive contributions.

Conclusion

This new questionnaire appears to have good reliability and validity and seems suitable for assessing the positive contributions to families by children with ASD in China.

Implications

The present study may be helpful for the parents of children with ASD and will likely help them focus on the strengths of their children rather than their shortcomings. The study might also benefit counselors and researchers who would be able to use the new questionnaire to evaluate the positive contributions made to families by children who have ASD.

The mediation effect of mental resilience between stress and coping style among parents of children with cochlear implants: Cross-sectional study

PURPOSE

This study aimed to examine the relationship of stress, mental resilience, and coping style, and the mediation effect of mental resilience between stress and coping style among parents of children with cochlear implants.

DESIGN AND METHODS

A cross-sectional design was used. A total of 231 parents of children with cochlear implants were recruited from May 1, 2022, to February 28, 2023 at a comprehensive tertiary hospital and a cochlear implant rehabilitation center in China. Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (PSI-SF), the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) and the Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire(SCSQ) were used to measure stress, mental resilience, and coping style respectively.

RESULTS

The mean score observed for PSI-SF, CD-RISC, active coping, and passive coping was 87.85 ± 24.59, 55.63 ± 16.11, 21.36 ± 6.73, and 9.05 ± 4.52, respectively. Mental resilience was a significant mediator explaining the effect of stress on active coping (β = -0.294; 95% bias-corrected bootstrap CI: -0.358 to -0.164).

CONCLUSIONS

Attention should be paid to the status of stress, mental resilience and coping style in parents of children with cochlear implants. Mental resilience mediated stress and coping style.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

This study provides a theoretical basis for establishing an active coping care program for parents of children with cochlear implants. There is a need to identify strategies that can help increase the level of mental resilience of parents of children with cochlear implants and more subjective and objective social support should be provided to reduce their stress and to encourage active coping style.

Assessment of Chinese rehabilitation assistance system for disabled children

Using the social support theory for reference, a subject-object influencing mechanism model of China's rehabilitation assistance system for disabled children is built based on the survey data on 1,698 disabled children in 243 designated rehabilitation institutions in Hu'nan Province as well as the topic of the assessment and optimization of the rehabilitation assistance system for disabled children. The analysis using the structural equation modeling reveals that the inclusive welfare effect of the rehabilitation assistance system for disabled children has emerged, and disabled children receiving free rehabilitation in the designated institutions have achieved good rehabilitation results as a whole, however, disabled children of different age groups have generational differences in the rehabilitation effects, and the preferential aspect of the system needs to be strengthened. Government support, institutional support, and social support have positive non-equilibrium effects in enhancing the rehabilitation effects of disabled children. Institutional support plays a partial mediating role between government support, family support, and disabled children's rehabilitation effects, showing that the current social support system for the rehabilitation assistance of disabled children is experiencing structural, social and kernel changes, to evolve from the traditional closed and disconnected one-way resource support to open, coordinated, and interactive multi-support, and gradually become a comprehensive and efficient interactive support system with families as the foundation, institutions as the main body, and the government as the core.

Clinically elevated depression scores do not produce negative attentional biases in caregivers of autistic children

Objective

Depression scores in caregivers of autistic children often fall in the clinical range. The attention of clinically depressed individuals tends to be biased toward negatively toned information. Whether caring for an autistic child might also be characterized by a negative attentional bias was explored here.

Methods

A sample of N = 98 (57 caregivers and 41 controls) completed questionnaires assessing depressive symptoms. Orienting attention to (i.e., vigilance), and shifting attention away from (i.e., disengagement), negative information was assessed via an online version of the emotional face dot probe task.

Results

Mean depression scores in caregivers, falling in the borderline clinical range, were significantly higher compared with controls. Groups, however, were indistinguishable with respect to vigilance and disengagement, and these attentional indices were unrelated to depression scores.

Conclusion

Caring for an autistic child, while associated with borderline clinical depression scores, was not characterized by a negative attentional bias. Findings are discussed in the context of methodological shortcomings and recommendations for future research.

Factors related to parenting styles of Chinese mothers of children with and without intellectual disability

BACKGROUND

Parenting styles play a crucial role in children's development. However, approaches to parenting children with intellectual disability (ID) beyond Western cultures have been underexamined. This study compared the self-reported parenting styles of Chinese mothers of children with and without ID and examined some factors that might be related.

METHODS

Chinese mothers of children with ID (n = 173) and mothers of typically developing children (n = 119) completed measures of their parenting style, parenting stress, parenting sense of competence and family support.

RESULTS

Both groups endorsed similar levels of authoritative parenting, but mothers of children with ID were more likely to report adopting strategies aligned with authoritarian parenting. For mothers in the ID group, family support moderated the effects of parenting stress and parenting sense of competence on authoritative parenting. Parenting stress and parenting sense of competence, respectively, predicted authoritarian parenting for mothers of children with and without ID.

CONCLUSIONS

This study highlights the importance of reducing parenting stress, strengthening parenting sense of competence and providing family support in order to promote optimal parenting styles for Chinese mothers of children with ID.

Virtual care during the pandemic: Multi-family group sessions for Hong Kong Chinese families of adolescents with intellectual disabilities

The suspension of social services in Hong Kong during the COVID-19 pandemic increased the caregiver strain for families of adolescent children with intellectual disabilities, possibly aggravating their family relationships. This article reports on an online Multi-Family Group (MFG) conducted during the pandemic for Hong Kong Chinese families of adolescents affected by mild-to-moderate intellectual disabilities. A thematic analysis of the experiences of the participating service users revealed three positive effects of the intervention model: improved family relationships, mutual helpful influences occurring among families, and a new understanding of family members with intellectual disabilities. The therapeutic group process used to promote family development is illustrated by a group vignette. The challenges and the practical considerations for conducting an MFG online are discussed.

Parenting Styles and Psychological Resilience: The Mediating Role of Error Monitoring

Parenting styles are associated with children's psychological resilience. However, the underlying mechanisms of this have not been investigated. Parenting styles influence how individuals respond to self-inflicted errors, and error monitoring is related to psychological resilience. Therefore, this study proposed that error monitoring might be a bridging factor between parenting styles and psychological resilience. Seventy-two young healthy adults were recruited for this study. Parenting styles were assessed using the Parental Bonding Instrument, and psychological resilience was measured using the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale. Error monitoring was investigated in the Flanker task using event-related potentials (ERPs), and two error-related components of ERPs were measured: error-related negativity (ERN) and error positivity. Mediation analyses showed that the ERN partially mediated the relationship between parenting styles and psychological resilience. Specifically, a higher level of self-reported parental overprotection was related to larger ERN amplitude, which in turn was associated with lower psychological resilience. Additionally, a higher level of self-reported parental allowance of autonomy was related to lower ERN amplitude, which in turn was linked to higher psychological resilience. These results suggest that shaping children's sensitivity in early automatic error detection is one possible mechanism through which parental styles influence their psychological resilience.

Perceived Social Support and Quality of Life of Children with and without Developmental Disabilities and Their Caregivers during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Brazil: A Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND

Social support and Quality of life (QoL) are important aspects of life and should be explored during the specific scenario of the pandemic.

AIMS

(i) to compare the perceived social support (PSS) in caregivers and the domains of QoL of the caregiver and the child with developmental disabilities (DD) and typical development (TD); (ii) to verify the existence of the association, in each group, between the PSS, and the domain of QoL of the caregiver and the child.

METHODS AND PROCEDURES

52 caregivers of children with DD and 34 with TD participated remotely. We assessed PSS (Social Support Scale), children's QoL (PedsQL-4.0-parent proxy) and caregivers' QoL (PedsQL-Family Impact Module). The groups were compared for the outcomes using the Mann-Whitney test, and Spearman's test evaluated the correlation between the PSS and the QoL (child and caregiver) in each of the groups.

OUTCOMES AND RESULTS

There was no difference between groups for PSS. Children with DD presented lower values in PedsQL total, psychosocial health, physical health, social activities, and school activity. Caregivers of children with TD presented lower values in PedsQL family total, physical capacity, emotional aspect, social aspect, daily activities, and higher value in communication. In the DD group, we found a positive relationship between PSS with child: Psychosocial Health (r = 0.350) and Emotional Aspect (r = 0.380), and with family: Total (r = 0.562), Physical Capacity (r = 0.402), Emotional Aspect (r = 0.492), Social Aspect (r = 0.606), Communication (r = 0.535), Concern (r = 0.303), Daily Activities (r = 0.394) and Family Relationships (r = 0.369). In the TD group, we found that PSS was positively associated with Family: Social Aspect (r = 0.472) and Communication (r = 0.431).

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

During the COVID-19 pandemic, despite both groups presenting similar PSS, there are important differences in QoL between them. For both groups, greater levels of perceived social support are associated with greater caregiver-reported in some domains of the child's and caregiver's QoL. These associations are more numerous, especially for the families of children with DD. This study provides a unique view into the relationships between perceived social support and QoL during the "natural experiment" of living through a pandemic.

Exploring Indigenous Community Conceptions of Parent Wellbeing: A Qualitative Analysis

Using non-Indigenous perspectives of parental social and emotional wellbeing in the design and application of parent support programs can undermine program effectiveness as it may not account for Indigenous family structures and community values. With a clearer understanding of Indigenous parent wellbeing and its determinants, parenting interventions can be more appropriately designed and tailored to provide support for Indigenous families. This study utilised a community-based participatory action research approach involving collaboration between the research team, participants, and community advisory groups to explore Indigenous parents' and carers' conceptions of wellbeing. Participants' cultural perspectives on parent wellbeing were collected through semi-structured focus groups and in-depth interviews (N = 20). Thematic analysis was undertaken using theory-driven and interpretative phenomenological analysis. Eleven themes emerged as risk and protective factors across three domains: child domain (i.e., school attendance and education, respect, routine, development), parent domain (i.e., role modelling, self-regulation of body, self-regulation of mind and emotions, parenting strategies), and context domain (i.e., connections to family and kinship, community, access to services). It is noteworthy that parents reported three super-ordinate intersecting themes across all domains: connection to culture, Country, and spirituality. In addition, Indigenous parents' and carers' conception of their own wellbeing is closely linked to their children's wellbeing, their lived community context, and expected personal indicators. In recognising and working with this holistic view of Indigenous parent wellbeing, parent support programs can be optimally designed and implemented in Indigenous communities.

Health-related quality of life among mothers of children with cochlear implants with and without developmental disabilities

BACKGROUND

Cochlear implants (CIs) are widely used among children with severe to profound hearing loss. Raising a child with a CI presents unique challenges to the family, especially when the child has a developmental disability (CI-DD).

AIMS

This study aimed to elucidate the relations between the functioning of children with CIs, their mothers' coping resources (i.e., social support and family-centered care), and maternal health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Also, it examined whether the presence of a DD in addition to the child's deafness moderated these relations.

METHODS AND PROCEDURES

A sample of 100 mothers of children with CIs (54 in the CI-DD group) completed questionnaires regarding perceived social support, family-centered care, and HRQoL.

OUTCOMES AND RESULTS

Mothers of deaf children with CIs and DD experienced lower levels of family functioning and HRQoL across all dimensions compared to mothers of deaf children with CIs without DD. In addition, social support was positively related to HRQoL only among mothers of children in the CI-DD group, indicating the protective role of social support.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

Social support is an important coping resource, and psychosocial support is needed for mothers of children with CIs, especially for mothers whose children also have a DD.

Parenting Stress and Parenting Efficacy of Parents Having Children with Disabilities in China: The Role of Social Support

Raising children with disabilities is challenging for parents, who experience high parenting stress. The study aimed to understand the status quo of parenting efficacy of parents having children with disabilities and to analyze the association between parent efficacy, parenting stress, and social support in China. We surveyed 373 parents having children with disabilities enrolled in special education schools or rehabilitation institutions from 14 provinces in China. The online questionnaire including Parental Stress Index-Short Form, the Child Adjustment and Parent Efficacy Scale-Developmental Disability (CAPES-DD), and Social Support Scale was applied in the study. The results suggested that parenting efficacy of parents having children with disabilities in China was at the medium level. Parenting stress, social support, and parenting efficacy were significantly related with each other, and social support played a mediating role between parenting stress and parenting efficacy. The findings indicated that reducing parenting stress and improving social support might improve parenting efficacy. We also discussed the implications of providing intervention strategies or social support to improve parenting efficacy for parents with disabled children in China.

A mixed-methods analysis of the role of online social support to promote psychological wellbeing in new mothers

Objective

Perinatal mental health problems affect between 1 in 3 and 1 in 10 women globally. Using social media could offer helpful support to new mothers to mitigate this. This research examines the impact of online social support on parental stress, and the mediating effect of maternal wellbeing. The goal is to improve understanding of how to optimise online maternal support to improve anxiety and reduce long-term stress for mother and child.

Design

A mixed-methods, convergent parallel design (QUANT-QUAL) is adopted to facilitate examination of the complex association between constructs.

Methods

A Qualtrics online survey was administered via social media to mothers of children under two (n = 151). Quantitative multiple regression analyses assessed perceptions of online social support overall and in separate domains (Social Networking Sites Usage and Needs Scale) as a predictor of parental stress (Parental Stress Scale) and the potential mediation effect of mental wellbeing (Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale). Purposely designed survey open-text questions allowed participants to describe the detail and impact of online support experiences and common stresses and formed the basis of a qualitative reflexive thematic analysis examining online support and maternal mental health.

Results

Mixed-method findings indicate that mothers perceiving more value in online support have higher stress levels and lower wellbeing than others. Mental wellbeing was a partial mediator of the relationship between online support and parental stress. Non-significant statistical effects were reinforced by qualitative themes indicating online support provided safe guidance, peer solidarity and parenting escape.

Conclusions

Maternal online support was predominantly used to cope with high stress, explaining positive stress correlations. Statistically, online coping strategies contributed little to mental wellbeing. Nevertheless, online support was regarded as a valuable and reassuring tool by some participants. Health professionals could improve perinatal anxiety coping by facilitating quality online support networks.

[A Predictive Model of Resilience in Mothers of Children with Developmental Disabilities]

PURPOSE

This structural model study was constructed and verified a hypothetical model to examine the effects of parenting stress, social resources, family resources, and positive coping on resilience among mothers of children with developmental disabilities.

METHODS

Data were collected using self-report structured questionnaires, from October 19 to October 30, 2018, with 214 mothers caring for children with developmental disabilities under the age of 20 years.

RESULTS

In the fitness test results of the hypothesis model, with the fit index χ² (p) = 69.27 (< .001), and the normed fit indices (χ² = 1.87, GFI = .94, CFI = .97, NFI = .93, and TLI = .95, RMSEA = .06, SRMR = .06), this study satisfies the good fitness in standards. There are seven statistically significant paths among the 10 paths set in the hypothetical model. The explanatory power of parenting stress and social resources, which affects the family resources was 41.4%, the explanatory power of parenting stress, social resources, and family resources affecting the positive coping was 58.9%, and the explanatory power of parenting stress, social resources, family resources, and positive coping affecting resilience was 55.5%.

CONCLUSION

Positive coping, family resources, and social resources of mothers of children with developmental disabilities directly affect their resilience, and parenting stress indirectly affects it. Therefore, to improve the resilience of mothers of children with developmental disabilities, it is necessary to develop a systematic nursing intervention that considers parenting stress, social resources, family resources, and positive coping.

Parental experience of parent-mediated intervention for children with ASD: A systematic review and qualitative evidence synthesis

LAY ABSTRACT

The effectiveness of parent-mediated interventions in the field of autism spectrum disorder is well documented but information on the experience of parents involved in parent-mediated interventions is limited.This study is the first synthesis of evidence concerning the experience of parents involved in parent-mediated interventions. It synthesizes the voice of 345 parents across the world into four general themes: barriers to implementation and logistical issues, feeling overwhelmed and stressed (a need for support), facilitators of implementation, and empowerment in the parent and improvement in the child.The findings of our study provide evidence that parent-mediated interventions should be adapted to the needs of each family. Specific care and support should be offered to parents in addition to parent-mediated interventions. Our study, however, highlights which outcomes are important to parents and should be considered in future studies.

Influence of Social Support Network and Perceived Social Support on the Subjective Wellbeing of Mothers of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

This study explored the relations between the social support network of mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), perceived social support, and their subjective wellbeing. The participants were mothers of children with ASD in Shanghai. Their social support network structure was explored via the nomination method. Perceived social support was measured using the Revised Social Provisions Scale for Autism (R-SPS-A), and the mothers’ subjective wellbeing was assessed using the Index of Wellbeing, Index of General Affect. A significant correlation was observed between the subjective wellbeing of mothers of children with ASD and perceived social support. Meanwhile, perceived social support was significantly correlated with the effectiveness of overall social support. Finally, perceived social support was also significantly correlated with the network size of social support. Moreover, the effectiveness of social support was significantly associated with the network size of social support and was highly significantly associated with the degree of intimacy of social support. Furthermore, the network size of instrumental support has a significant influence on all perceived social support subdimensions. Overall, social support effectiveness plays an important role in the social support network mechanism on perceived social support and subjective wellbeing in China.