Understanding perceptions underlying the self-reported stress among parents of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder: Considerations for supporting families

Background: Parents raising adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often report higher stress than other parents. The influence of parents’ internal, or cognitive, experiences (i.e., their own perceptions) on this elevated stress has yet to be explored. Addressing this gap may reveal opportunities for enhancing support for families by elucidating malleable targets for reducing parents’ self-reported stress and/or informing family-focused intervention. The Double ABCX Model of Family Adaptation is a framework for understanding how perceptions, social support, and personal resources (i.e., coping) may affect stress. Methods: We examined parents’ perceptions about ASD, perceived support, and coping among 214 parents of adolescents with ASD. Regression analyses were used to explore whether these factors were associated with parenting stress among those raising adolescents with ASD. Moderation effects of positive coping on the relationship between parent perceptions and parenting stress were also explored. Results: Parent perceptions about within family support, the extent of ASD symptom predictability, and treatment being able to ‘control’ ASD were related to parenting stress. However, positive coping did not moderate the relationship between these perceptions and parenting stress. Conclusions: Study findings emphasize significant associations between specific parental perceptions and the self-reported stress among families of adolescents with ASD. Particularly important to parenting stress were how much parents’ perceived adequate support within the family, that treatment was useful for controlling their adolescent's ASD, and that their adolescent's symptoms were predictable. These findings suggest that the way parents think about their adolescents’ ASD and the adequacy of the support within their own families are associated with parenting stress, and therefore may serve as treatment targets for positively affecting whole family outcomes, as well as foundations for additional research.