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Quality of Life, Coping Styles, Stress Levels, and Time Use in Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Comparing Single Versus Coupled Households

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Abstract

This study aimed to examine the influence of differences in household status on the parental stress, coping, time use and quality of life (QoL) among mothers of children with autism spectrum disorders. Forty-three single and 164 coupled mothers completed the survey. Data were analysed using multivariate logistic regression. We found that single mothers were 1.05 times more likely to report lower levels of environmental QoL. Whilst they were 1.73 times more likely to use acceptance coping style, this association did not persist after adjusting for total number of children, household income and employment status. There was no difference in time use and stress between these mothers. Possible environmental issues for single mothers and implications for future research are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the founder of this study, the Lishman Health Foundation to conduct the study. We would like to acknowledge the contributions of the Disability Services Commission and South West Autism Network and supports provided by other ASD related service providers and health professionals in Western Australia. We would also like to thank the families who participated in this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Occupational Therapy and Social Work, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA, 6845, Australia

    Tomomi McAuliffe, Reinie Cordier, Sharmila Vaz & Torbjorn Falkmer

  2. Allied Health and Social Sciences, Institute of Health & Society, University of Worcester, Henwick Grove, Worcester, WR2 6AJ, UK

    Yvonne Thomas

  3. School of Occupational Therapy, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Torbjorn Falkmer

  4. Rehabilitation Medicine, Department of Medicine and Health Sciences (IMH), Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping University & Pain and Rehabilitation Centre, UHL, County Council, Linköping, Sweden

    Torbjorn Falkmer

  5. Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism Spectrum Disorders (Autism CRC), Long Pocket, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Torbjorn Falkmer

Authors
  1. Tomomi McAuliffe
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  2. Reinie Cordier
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  3. Sharmila Vaz
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  4. Yvonne Thomas
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  5. Torbjorn Falkmer
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Contributions

TM assisted the data collection, performed the statistical analysis and interpreted the data, and drafted the final manuscript. RC obtained grant to conduct the larger study, participated in the design and coordination of the study and assisted the statistical analysis, interpretation of the data and drafting the manuscript. SV obtained grant to conduct the larger study, participated in the design and coordination of the study and assisted interpretation of the data and drafting the manuscript. TF obtained grant to conduct the larger study, assisted interpretation of the data and drafting the manuscript. YT assisted interpretation of the data and drafting the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tomomi McAuliffe.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest. The authors conducted this research project, independent of the Lishman Health Foundation and those view expressed are not necessarily those of the founder’s. All researchers take full responsibility for the integrity of the work.

Ethical Approval

The study was approved by the Curtin University Human Research Ethics Committee (HR123/2014) and all procedures performed in this study were in accordance with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in this study.

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McAuliffe, T., Cordier, R., Vaz, S. et al. Quality of Life, Coping Styles, Stress Levels, and Time Use in Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Comparing Single Versus Coupled Households. J Autism Dev Disord 47, 3189–3203 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-017-3240-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-017-3240-z

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