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Who Participates in Support Groups for Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders? The Role of Beliefs and Coping Style

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Abstract

One hundred forty-nine parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) completed online questionnaires measuring their beliefs about support groups and ASD, coping style, social support, mood, and use of support groups. Those currently using parent support groups (PSGs) reported using more adaptive coping strategies than both parents who had never used PSGs and parents who had used PSGs in the past. Past PSG users reported that they did not find the groups as beneficial as current users, and parents who had never participated in PSGs reported difficulties with the accessibility of PSGs. Based on the current results, interventions for parents of children with ASD that are focused on meeting the needs identified by participating parents may be most effective.

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Notes

  1. One participant did not indicate their level of education.

  2. Two participants did not indicate their partner’s level of education and 11 indicated that this question was not applicable.

  3. The data from 6 participants are missing for these questions.

  4. These categories were not mutually exclusive; some parents indicated that their child had both Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorder, likely because the child was given different diagnoses by different professionals.

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Acknowledgments

This paper was prepared as part of Tessen Clifford’s doctoral dissertation. Special thanks to Dr. Beth Kelley and Dr. Kevin Parker for their support in the development of this project. The first author was supported through a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada CGS Doctoral Scholarship [Award # 767-2008-2150] and an Ontario Graduate Scholarship.

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Correspondence to Tessen Clifford.

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Clifford, T., Minnes, P. Who Participates in Support Groups for Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders? The Role of Beliefs and Coping Style. J Autism Dev Disord 43, 179–187 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-012-1561-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-012-1561-5

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