Organized by JC A-Connect: Jockey Club Autism Support NetworkPoster presentation: Family Support Programmepublished_or_final_versio

Lo, BCY

Ng, MC

Yeung, PS

HKU Scholars Hub

TitleFrom Despondency to Competency: Psychological Well-being ofParents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders in HongKong.Author(s) Ng, MC; Yeung, PS; Lo, BCYCitation Hong Kong ASD Conference 2017: Family Support andDevelopment, Hong Kong, 9 January 2017Issued Date 2017URL http://hdl.handle.net/10722/243446Rights This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.From Despondency to Competency: Psychological Well-being of Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders in Hong KongMo-Chong NG*, Pui-Sze YEUNG and Barbara Chuen-Yee LOThe University of Hong KongAbstractThe inter-relationships among child-related stress and parent-related resources that influencing thepsychological well-being for parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (“ASD”) in Hong Kongwere examined. A total of 173 parents of children with ASD were administered measures of stressor(perception on parenting stress and child’s behavior), resources (social support and coping), self-efficacybelief in parenting and parent distress. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis results showed that theparental self-efficacy belief, maladaptive coping strategies and perceived parenting stress weresignificantly associated with parental distress. Results suggested that the development of an interactiveframework of parental well-being may constituted with the key factors examined in the present study.Further investigation will harness the theoretical and practical developments to support parents ofchildren with ASD in Hong Kong.Keywords: Parental Self-efficacy, Coping, Parental Well-being, Children with Autism Spectrum DisordersBackgroundParenting Challenges and Parental Well-BeingPast research has consistently shown that parents of children with ASD experienced significantly higherstress associated with the child’s symptoms compared to the parents of children with or without otherdisabilities (Sanders & Morgan, 1997). A major source of stress may come from the nature of the child’sbehavioral problem (Hastings et al., 2005; Hodapp et al., 1997). The question of how factors associatedwith the child’s symptoms and the underlying psychological process may impact upon parent’spsychological well-being remains unknown. Answer to this question is important as it may facilitatetheoretical and practical development tailor made to address ASD parent’s needs (Benson, 2012).Past Studies on Social Support, Coping, and Parental Self-EfficacyA variety of factors have been identified in the past research including social support, coping, andparental self-efficacy. Research has shown that social support protected against parenting stress and wasnegatively associated with stress in parents of children with ASD (Bristol, 1984; Gray & Holden, 1992).Maladaptive coping strategies such as avoidance were reported to be related to heightened stress andincreased risks of mental health problems in parents of children with ASD (Hastings et al., 2005). Recentresearch suggested that positive appraisal such as positive reframing may be a more effective copingstrategy (Benson, 2012; Hastings et al., 2005). Parental self-efficacy is defined as the competency belief aparent perceived he or she may be able to fulfill a parenting role (Teti, O’Connell, & Reiner, 1996). It wasreported that parental self-efficacy was related to improved well-being in mothers of children with ASD(Kuhn & Carter, 2006). Moreover, research suggested that parental self-efficacy was mediating therelationship between the child’s behavioral problem and the psychological well-being for parents(Coleman & Karraker, 1998). In view of these aforementioned evidence, the present study aims to puttogether a model proposing how the dynamic interplay of the above mentioned factors may contributeto parental well-being for parents of children with ASD in Hong Kong.One hundred seventy-three parents (146 mothers and 27 fathers) of 149 boys and 24 girls who hadreceived clinical diagnosis of ASD reported on their perceived parenting stress and child’s behavioralproblem, social support, coping, parental self-efficacy, parental distress and demographic information forfurther analysis.Table 1 presents the descriptive statistics for the mesaures in relation to parental distress as outcomevariable, as well as their inter-correlations. Domain-specific and task-specific parental self-efficacy beliefswere negatively related to parent distress (r = -0.35 and -0.56 respectively, p < 0.01), as well as socialsupport (r = -0.42, p < 0.01). Perceived parenting stress and the child’s behavioral problem weresignificantly related to parental distress (r = 0.66 and 0.51 respectively, p < 0.01). Five coping strategiesemployed by the sample in the present study were analyzed. Engagement (r = 0.16, p < 0.05),unacceptance (r = 0.52, p < 0.01), disengagement (r = 0.25, p < 0.01) and relationship coping (r = -0.18, p< 0.05) were significantly related to parental distress. No significant relationship was found betweenalternative coping and parental distress (r = -0.05, p > 0.05).Hierarchical multiple regression analysis results indicated that the model as shown in Figure 1 explained 60.0% of the variance in parental distress [F(13,159) = 18.11, p < 0.001; see Table 2]. The result showed that task-specific parental self-efficacy belief, disengagement coping, unacceptance coping and perceived parenting stress were significantly associated with parental distress, after controlling for the parent’s age, parent’s education level and the child’s age. ResultsTable 1Means, Standard Deviations, Correlations for Measures in the Present Study (n = 173)1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11Mean 35.57 19.73 26.43 32.75 32.50 33.28 31.55 10.28 10.68 9.24 23.99SD 10.25 3.05 3.70 5.34 6.20 5.90 5.55 2.96 2.92 1.78 4.741. Parental distress - -.35** -.56** .66** .51** -.42** -.16* .52** -.05 .25** -.18*2. PSE - .49** -.40** -.37** .47** .27** -.25** .14 -.01 .25**3. APSE - -.56** -.53** .39** .25** -.42** .03 -.05 .22**4. Perceived parenting stress - .59** -.48** -.21** .36** -.15 -.01 -.27**5. Child’s behavioral problem - -.32** -.17* .26** -.04 .14 -.16*6. Social support - .29** -.27** .18* .04 .19*7. Engagement coping - -.17* .35** .32** .55**8. Unacceptance - .07 .23** -.139. Alternative coping - .32** .31**10. Disengagement - .25**11. Relationship coping -Note. PSE, domain-specific parental self-efficacy belief. APSE, task-specific self-efficacy for parents of children with ASD. *p < .05.  **p < .01. Perceived parenting stressChild’s behavioral problemCopingSocial supportSelf-efficacy(task)Parental distressSelf-efficacy(domain)Figure 1. Conceptual model of parental distress proposed in the present studyStressor Cognitive ResourcesMethodTable 2Standardized Betas (β) for Hierarchical Regression Model on Parental Distress from the Independent Variables in the Present Study After Controls for Differences in Ages and Education levels for Parents and Difference in Ages for the Child (n = 173)Final Step Predictors ΔR2 df B SE B βStep 1: Control Variables 0.01 3/169Parent’s age 0.06 0.11 0.04Parent’s education 0.54 0.72 0.04Child’s age 0.01 0.15 0.01Step 2: Independent Variables 0.59*** 13/159Parental self-efficacy (domain) 0.12 0.21 0.04Parental self-efficacy (task) -0.42 0.20 -0.15*Perceived parenting stress 0.76 0.14 0.40***Child’s behavioral problem 0.15 0.11 0.09Social support -0.16 0.11 -0.09Engagement coping 0.01 0.12 0.00Disengagement coping 1.17 0.34 0.20***Alternative coping -0.23 0.21 -0.06Unacceptance coping 0.83 0.21 0.24***Relationship coping -0.05 0.14 -0.03*p < .05, ***p =< .001.The preliminary findings of the present study were partially consistent with the past research, such thatsome of the key constructs such as parental self-efficacy belief and coping strategies were importantconstructs associated with parental distress. Some findings, however, were inconsistent with the pastresearch. For instance, research suggested social support was a protective factor for parental well-being(Gray & Holden, 1992), whereas child’s behavioral problem was shown to be one of the key stressorsinfluencing parental well-being (Hastings et al., 2005). Neither of these relationships were not found inthe present study. It was suggested that parental self-efficacy belief, coping strategies, and perceivedparenting stress may constitute an interactive framework, accounting for the variance in parental distressin the present study. The findings of the present study shall facilitate theoretical development of theunderlying mechanism of parental well-being, which capacitate the development of the parent supportprogram to foster competent parents of children with ASD in Hong Kong.Conclusion*Corresponding author. Email: m0ng@hku.hk (Mo Ng).ReferencesBenson, P. R. (2012). Network characteristics, perceived social support, and psychological adjustment in mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 42(12), 2597-2610.Bristol, M. M. (1984). Family resources and successful adaptation to autistic children. In The Effects of Autism on the Family (pp. 289-310). Springer US.Coleman, P. K., & Karraker, K. H. (1998). Self-efficacy and parenting quality: Findings and future applications. Developmental Review, 18(1), 47-85.Gray, D. E., & Holden, W. J. (1992). Psycho-social well-being among the parents of children with autism. Australia and New Zealand Journal of Developmental Disabilities, 18(2), 83-93.Hastings, R. P., Kovshoff, H., Ward, N. J., Degli Espinosa, F., Brown, T., & Remington, B. (2005). Systems analysis of stress and positive perceptions in mothers and fathers of pre-school children with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 35(5), 635-644.Hodapp, R. M., Dykens, E. M., & Masino, L. L. (1997). Families of children with Prader-Willi syndrome: Stress-support and relations to child characteristics. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 27(1), 11-24.Kuhn, J. C., & Carter, A. S. (2006). Maternal self‐efficacy and associated parenting cognitions among mothers of children with autism. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 76(4), 564-575.Sanders, J. L., & Morgan, S. B. (1997). Family stress and adjustment as perceived by parents of children with autism or Down syndrome: Implications for intervention. Child & Family Behavior Therapy, 19(4), 15-32.Teti, D. M., O’ Connell, M. A., & Reiner, C. D. (1996). Parenting Sensitivity, Parental Depression and Child Health: The Mediational Role of Parental Self‐Efficacy. Early Development and Parenting, 5(4), 237-250.

From Despondency to Competency: Psychological Well-being of Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders in Hong Kong.

http://hub.hku.hk/bitstream/10722/243446/1/Content.pdf

From Despondency to Competency: Psychological Well-being of Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders in Hong Kong.

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

HKU Scholars Hub