The Impact of Unmet Needs of Parents of Children with Autism on their Psychological Health
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2017
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Abstract
This study investigated the impact of unmet needs of parents of children with autism on their psychological well-being and life satisfaction. A total 75 parents, of which 21 had a child diagnosed with autism, participated in this study. They were all recruited from a regular school offering specialized services for children with autism and their families. While all 75 parents completed a demographic questionnaire, the Satisfaction with Life Survey and the Ryff’s Scale for Psychological Well-Being Scale, the 21 parents of children with autism filled out an additional questionnaire, the Family Needs Questionnaire. T-test and correlational analyses were used for examining the 4 hypotheses. The results revealed that parents of children with autism scored much lower on the life satisfaction scale as well as the self-acceptance subscale of the psychological well-being Scale when compared with parents of typically developing children; hypothesis 1 was confirmed. Moreover, there was no significant impact of the parents’ expressed needs on their reported life satisfaction and psychological well-being, thus hypotheses 2 and 3 were not confirmed. Mothers of children with autism in this study were not found to be lower on life satisfaction and psychological well-being than fathers of children with autism; hypothesis 4 was not confirmed The results of this study highlight the importance of making parents of children with autism aware of how to be more self-compassionate and self-accepting which will, in time, help them enjoy a higher well-being.
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Chamseddine, N. (2017). The Impact of Unmet Needs of Parents of Children with Autism on their Psychological Health (SBS thesis, Haigazian University)