Abstract
Children with autism spectrum disorder present with challenging behaviors that can impact caregivers by increasing parental perceived stress and risk for depression. However, positive coping strategies have also been identified as protective factors for parents of children with ASD. The present study examined parental perceived daily stressors and positive coping strategies (i.e., benefit finding) as mediators to depression for parents of children with ASD. A latent profile analysis identified three classes of behavior severity for children with ASD. Across all classes, higher levels of perceived daily stressors predicted increased parental depression, while benefit finding predicted lower parental depression. Results support interventions that increase positive coping strategies to decrease levels of depression in parents of children with ASD.
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This manuscript was prepared from a doctoral dissertation. Data used in this study was from a prior study conducted at the University of Miami.
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These data were collected as part of a larger IRB approved study at the University of Miami conducted by one of the authors.
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SRV wrote the manuscript. HS and MA collected all data. LG assisted in editing. CM conducted all statistical analyses. All authors reviewed the final manuscript.
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This manuscript was prepared from a doctoral dissertation. Data used in this study was from a prior study conducted at the University of Miami.
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Vitale, S.R., Schneider, H., Gardner, L. et al. Challenging Behavior and Parental Depression: The Effects of Everyday Stressors and Benefit Finding for Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 53, 3356–3368 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-022-05627-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-022-05627-7