Parents of Children with ASD Experience More Psychological Distress, Parenting Stress, and Attachment-Related Anxiety
Open accessAbstract
There has been limited study of the relationship between child attachment and caregiver wellbeing amongst children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study examined self-reported child attachment quality alongside caregivers' report of their own psychological distress, parenting stress and attachment style, amongst 24 children with high-functioning autism or Asperger's disorder (ASD; aged 7-14 years) and 24 typically developing children (aged 7-12 years), and their primary caregiver. Children with ASD were no less secure, but their caregivers were more stressed and reported more attachment-related anxiety, compared to typically developing dyads. Child attachment security was related to caregiver psychological distress and attachment style, but only amongst typically developing children. Impacts of emotion processing impairments on caregiver-child relationships in ASD are discussed.
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Parents of autistic individuals experience higher levels of distress compared to parents who do not have a child with a disability.
“Given the higher levels of distress experienced by parents of autistic individuals compared to parents who do not have a child with a disability (Keenan et al., 2016), it is crucial to identify brief, effective and accessible supports.”
From Parent, child, and family outcomes following Acceptance And Commitment Therapy for parents of autistic children: A randomized controlled trial (2024) · cites this paper as Keenan et al., 2016
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References 87 · Cited by 116
- Authors
- Keenan, B. M., Newman, L. K., Gray, K. M., & Rinehart, N. J.
- Affiliations
- Monash Health (AU)
- Royal Women's Hospital (AU)
- Deakin University (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Keenan, Belinda M.
- Venue
- Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
- Published
- 2016-06-16
- Volume
- 46
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 2979-2991
- ISSN
- 0162-3257 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-3432
- OpenAlex
- W2444144878
- Cited by
- 116
- References
- 87
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 1
- FWCI
- 7.58
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- figshare.com
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Family and Disability Support Research
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
- Keywords
- autism spectrum disorder, Asperger syndrome, high-functioning autism, child attachment, attachment security, attachment styles, parental psychological distress, parental stress, attachment anxiety, caregiver well-being, caregiver-child relationship
- MeSH terms
- Autism Spectrum Disorder, Adolescent, Adult, Anxiety, Child, Emotions, Female, Humans, Male, Object Attachment, Parent-Child Relations, Parents, Stress, Psychological, Case-Control Studies, Parenting, Caregivers
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