Association of autism child characteristics with maternal and paternal stress

Objective: To study the relationship between child characteristics (autism symptom severity, adaptive behaviors, and problematic behaviors) maternal and paternal stress. Methodology: Cross sectional research design was used to collect purposive sample of 186 parents (mothers=103, fathers=83) of children with autism. To assess autism symptom severity, childhood autism rating scale (CARS-2) was used. Adaptive behaviors and problematic behaviors were determined via using part 1 of Adaptive behavior scale (ABS-S: 2) and strength and difficulty questionnaire (SDQ). Maternal and Paternal stress was assessed using questionnaire on resource and stress (QRS-F). Results: Increased autism symptom severity, problematic behaviors and poor adaptive behaviors lead to increased maternal as well as paternal stress levels. Whereas, Problematic behaviors contribute more in maternal stress followed by autism symptom severity and poor adaptive behaviors. Autism symptom severity was the only significant contributor in paternal stress. Conclusion: There is a dire need to understand the interplay of autism characteristics, maternal as well as paternal stress. So that indigenous intervention can be formulated for better understanding and management of the autistic disorder. (author)