Parenting Stress among Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: The Need of Stress Management Guidelines and Policy

Noor Aishah Rosli, Zarinah Mohd Kasirun, Mohd Hairul Nizam Md Nasir, Fazidah Othman, Tengku Sarina Aini Tengku Kasim

Abstract


This concept paper reviews the issue of parenting stress in mothers and fathers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and highlights the need for stress management guideline and policy for these parents in Malaysia. Many studies have shown that parents of children with ASD are experiencing a high level of stress. Despite this issue, there has not been any local measures to improve the well-being of the parents. In Malaysia, there is no policy or standard guideline for parents of children with ASD, hence maintaining the risk of mental health cases among them. In order to overcome this issue, this paper reviewed the Lazarus and Folkman’s (1984) problem-focused strategies used by parents of children with ASD from previous studies. The strategies mentioned in this paper had been empirically proven as reducing the parents’ stress level. This paper also recommends the strategies to be included in a local policy to help the parents manage their stress.


Full Text:

PDF

References


Abdullah, N., Hanafi, H., and Hamdi, N. I. M. (2017), “The rights of persons with disabilities in Malaysia: the underlying reasons for ineffectiveness of Persons with Disabilities Act 2008”, International Journal for Studies on Children, Women, Elderly and Disabled, Vol. 1.

Ammari, T. and Schoenebeck, S. (2015), “Networked empowerment on Facebook groups for parents of children with special needs”, in Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, ACM, pp. 2805-2814.

Arksey, H., Beresford, B., Glendinning, C., Greco, V. and Sloper, T. (2007), “Outcomes for parents with disabled children and carers of disabled or older adults: Similarities, differences and the implications for assessment practice”, Social Policy Research Unit, University of York.

Baker, B.L., Blacher, J., Crnic, K.A. and Edelbrock, C. (2002), “Behavior problems and parenting stress in families of three-year-old children with and without developmental delays”, American Journal on Mental Retardation, Vol. 107 No. 6, pp. 433-444.

Baker-Ericzén, M.J., Brookman-Frazee, L. and Stahmer, A. (2005), “Stress levels and adaptability in parents of toddlers with and without autism spectrum disorders”, Research and practice for persons with severe disabilities, Vol. 30 No. 4, pp. 194-204.-66.

Bluth, K., Roberson, P.N., Billen, R.M. and Sams, J.M. (2013), “A stress model for couples parenting children with autism spectrum disorders and the introduction of a mindfulness intervention”, Journal of family theory and review, Vol. 5 No. 3, pp. 194-213.

Bohlander, A.J., Orlich, F. and Varley, C.K. (2012), “Social skills training for children with autism”, Pediatric Clinics, Vol. 59 No. 1, pp. 165-174.

Cachia, R.L., Anderson, A. and Moore, D.W. (2016), “Mindfulness, stress and well-being in parents of children with autism spectrum disorder: a systematic review”, Journal of Child and Family Studies, Vol. 25 No. 1, pp. 1-14.

Conner, C.M. and White, S.W. (2014), “Stress in mothers of children with autism: Trait mindfulness as a protective factor”, Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, Vol. 8 No. 6, pp. 617-624.

Dabrowska, A. and Pisula, E. (2010), “Parenting stress and coping styles in mothers and fathers of pre‐school children with autism and Down syndrome”, Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, Vol. 54 No. 3, 266-280.

Duncan, L.G., Coatsworth, J.D. and Greenberg, M.T. (2009), “A model of mindful parenting: Implications for parent–child relationships and prevention research”, Clinical child and family psychology review, Vol. 12 No. 3, pp. 255-270.

Estes, A., Munson, J., Dawson, G., Koehler, E., Zhou, X.H. and Abbott, R. (2009), “Parenting stress and psychological functioning among mothers of preschool children with autism and developmental delay”, Autism, Vol. 13 No. 4, pp. 375-387.

Feather, K.A. (2015), “Low functioning to high functioning autism: A prescriptive model for counselors working with children across the spectrum”, paper presented at the 56th Annual European Branch of the

American Counseling Association Conference, 3-4 October, Naples, Italy, available at https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/vistas/article_11d2bf24f16116603abcacff0000bee5e7.pdf?sfvrsn=4ca9442c_4 (accessed 10 October 2018).

Feldman, M.A. and Werner, S.E. (2002), “Collateral effects of behavioral parent training on families of children with developmental disabilities and behavior disorders”, Behavioral Interventions: Theory and Practice in Residential and Community‐Based Clinical Programs, Vol. 17 No. 2, pp. 75-83.

Gray, C. (2000), The new social story book, Future Horizons.

Gray, D. E. (2003), “Gender and coping: The parents of children with high functioning autism”, Social Science and Medicine, Vol. 56, pp. 631– 642.

Grossman, B.R. and Magaña, S. (2016), “Introduction to the special issue: Family Support of Persons with Disabilities Across the Life Course”, Journal of Family Social Work, Vol. 19 No. 4, pp. 237-251. DOI: 10.1080/10522158.2016.1234272

Halstead, E.J., Griffith, G.M. and Hastings, R.P. (2017), “Social support, coping, and positive perceptions as potential protective factors for the well-being of mothers of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities”, International Journal of Developmental Disabilities, Vol. 64 No. 4-5, pp. 1-9.

Hayes, S.A. and Watson, S.L. (2013), “The impact of parenting stress: A meta-analysis of studies comparing the experience of parenting stress in parents of children with and without autism spectrum disorder”, Journal of autism and developmental disorders, Vol. 43 No. 3, pp. 629-642.

Kabat-Zinn, J. (2003), “Mindfulness-based interventions in context: Past, present, and future”, Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, Vol. 10, pp. 144–156. doi:10.1093/clipsy/bpg016.

Kaur, J., Engakasa J.P., Sivanesom, R.S., and Kamarudin, K.N., (2015). Technical Report Autism Spectrum Disorder Research in Malaysia.

Kiami, S. R., and Goodgold, S. (2017). Support needs and coping strategies as predictors of stress level among mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder. Autism Res. Treat. 2017:8685950. doi: 10.1155/2017/8685950

Kobayashi, T., Inagaki, M. and Kaga, M. (2012). Professional caregiver's view on mental health in parents of children with developmental disabilities: A nationwide study of institutions and consultation centers in japan. ISRN Pediatrics.

Lazarus, R. S. and Folkman, S., (1984). Stress, Appraisal, and Coping. New York: Springer.

Lee, J. X., Ong, S. I., Lee, V. Y. and Fairuz Nazri, A .R. (2017). Parenting Stress among Malaysian Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Med and Health, 12(1): 42-55.

McCabe, H. and McCabe, K. (2013). Disability and family in the People's Republic of China: Implementation, benefits, and comparison of two mutual support groups. Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, 38(1), 12-22.

Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, Malaysia. (2016). DISABLED PERSONS POLICY. Retrieved from http://www.jkm.gov.my/jkm/index.php?r=portal/leftandid=cCtGNGNKVE9obFhBRUl5RERPRjVoUT09

Mustafa, H. R., Short, M. and Fan, S. (2015). Social support exchanges in Facebook social support group. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 185, 346-351.

Nikmat, A. W., Ahmad, M., Oon, N. L. and Razali, S. (2008). Stress and psychological wellbeing among parents of children with autism spectrum disorder. ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry, 9, 65–72. Retrieved from http://www. aseanjournalofpsychiatry.org/index.php/ aseanjournalofpsychiatry/article/viewFile/46/37

Pierce, K. L. and Schreibman, L. (1994). Teaching daily living skills to children with autism in unsupervised settings through pictorial self‐management. Journal of applied behavior analysis, 27(3), 471-481.

Pisula, E. (2011). Parenting stress in mothers and fathers of children with autism spectrum disorders. In A comprehensive book on autism spectrum disorders. InTech.

Pourmohamadreza-Tajrishi, M., Azadfallah, P., Garakani, S. H., & Bakhshi, E. (2015). The effect of problem-focused coping strategy training on psychological symptoms of mothers of children with down syndrome. Iranian journal of public health, 44(2), 254.

Quill, K. A. (1997). Instructional considerations for young children with autism: The rationale for visually cued instruction. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 27(6), 697-714.

Rehman, J. (2009). International Human Rights Law (Second Edition ed.): Pearson Education Ltd.

Roemer, L., Williston, S. K. and Rollins, L. G. (2015). Mindfulness and emotion regulation. Current Opinion in Psychology, 3, 52-57.

Schulze, M. (2010). Understanding The UN Convention On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities. New York, Handicap International.

Skinner, B. F. (1966). Operant behavior. In W. K. Honig (Ed.), Operant behavior: Areas of research and application, 12-32. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Smith, L. E., Greenberg, J. S. and Seltzer, M. M. (2012). Social support and well-being at mid-life among mothers of adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 42(9), 1818-1826.

Solomon, M., Pistrang, N. and Barker, C. (2001). The benefits of mutual support groups for parents of children with disabilities. American journal of community psychology, 29(1), 113-132.

Spriggs, A. D., Gast, D. L. and Ayres, K. M. (2007). Using picture activity schedule books to increase on-schedule and on-task behaviors. Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities, 209-223.

Wong, C., Odom, S. L., Hume, K. A., Cox, A. W., Fettig, A., Kucharczyk, S., and Schultz, T. R. (2015). Evidence-based practices for children, youth, and young adults with autism spectrum disorder: A comprehensive review. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 45(7), 1951-1966.


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


DISCLAIMER

The editors and publisher of Jurnal Psikologi Malaysia have made every possible effort to verify the accuracy of all information contained in this publication. Any opinions, discussions, views and recommendations expressed in the article are solely those of the authors and are not of Jurnal Psikologi Malaysia, its editors or its publisher. Jurnal Psikologi Malaysia, its editors and its publisher will not be liable for any direct, indirect, consequential, special, exemplary, or other damages arising therefrom.