Autism-Open Access
Open Access
ISSN: 2165-7890
ISSN: 2165-7890
Omelanczuk.I
The Maria Grzegorzewska University, Poland
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: Autism Open Access
Statement of the Problem: Parenthood is one of the most important social roles. Performing tasks connected with it might be perceived by mother or a father as a kind of challenges which exceeds their resources. Such situation leads to parenting stress, which, at high level, might threaten the mental well-being of the parent, and might have a negative influence on the well-being and development of the child, and family relationships. Parents of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are a group particularly exposed to very high levels of parenting stress. One of the main causes of their psychological tension is problems with the behavior and development of the child, especially the severity of ASD symptoms. As it is often argued that the basic phenotypic features of the autism spectrum disorder are also present (subclinically) in the general population. Tt seems interesting to investigate the relationship of these features (i.e. severity of autistic traits) in children of the general population with the level of parenting stress. Investigating these relations was the aim of this study. An attempt was also define the meaning of other child's characteristics like behavioural difficulties and temperament in explaining the level of parenting stress. Participants: The participants of the study were 145 parents of autistic children in normal range of intelligence, aged 7–11 and 290 parents of neurotypical children at the same age. Findings: the level of parenting stress in parents of autistic children was significantly higher than in parents of neurotypical children. The strongest predictors of the level of parenting stress in both groups of parents were the severity of the child’s behavioural difficulties.
Dr Iwona Omelanczuk is an assistant professor at The Maria Grzegorzewska University in Poland. Her research interests focus on parenting, especially predictors of parenting stress, parental self-efficacy and parental satisfaction in parents of children with autism spectrum disorders. She is the Author of empirical articles in such journals as Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders or Research in Autism Disorders. In 2023, she completed a research internship at the Parenting and Family Support Center in Queensland University, Australia, under Professor Matthew Sanders supervision.