What Influences Parenting Stress? Examining Parenting Stress and Self-Efficacy Across Groups of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, at Risk of Developmental Language Disorder, and With Typically Developing Language.

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine whether there are differences in parenting stress levels and self-efficacy among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), at risk of developmental language disorder (rDLD), and with typically developing language (TDL). The study also investigated the children's language abilities and/or behavioral problems as potential predictors of parents' levels of stress and self-efficacy.

Method: The study assessed children's language skills and behavioral problems as well as parental stress and self-efficacy in a sample of 2- to 4-year-old children with ASD (n = 35), rDLD (n = 35), and with TDL (n = 25).

Results: The findings of the study revealed that parents of children with ASD experienced the highest level of parenting stress related to child characteristics and the lowest level of self-efficacy, whereas parents of children rDLD had higher parenting stress compared to parents of children with TDL. Furthermore, although behavioral problems were shown to be a predictor that explains parenting stress in all groups, expressive language was identified as a predictor only in the rDLD group. While parental self-efficacy was also found to be predicted by expressive language in the TDL group, it was discovered that self-efficacy affected parenting stress in parents of children with ASD and rDLD.

Conclusions: These findings demonstrated that parental stress was a complex phenomenon impacted by several factors. This study may suggest the importance of interventions that aim to decrease parental stress and enhance self-efficacy, going beyond the children's language skills and behavioral problems.