Parenting perceptions and stress at treatment intake among families of children with autism

• Published date: 01 April 2022
• Author: Sarah S. Mire,Julia S. Benoit,Jennifer N. Fritz,Madeline D. Racine,Rachel H. Fein,Natalie S. Raff,Georgina Rosenbrock,Kyle Dawson
• Date: 01 April 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12585

ORIGINAL RESEARCH

Parenting perceptions and stress at treatment intake

among families of children with autism

Sarah S. Mire

1

|Julia S. Benoit

1

|Jennifer N. Fritz

2

|

Madeline D. Racine

3

|Rachel H. Fein

4

|Natalie S. Raff

5

|

Georgina Rosenbrock

1

|Kyle Dawson

2

1

University of Houston, Houston, Texas, USA

2

University of Houston–Clear Lake, Houston,

Texas, USA

3

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical

Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

4

Baylor College of Medicine Psychology

Services, Houston, Texas, USA

5

Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus,

Ohio, USA

Correspondence

Sarah S. Mire, Department of Psychological,

Health, & Learning Sciences, University of

Houston, 3657 Cullen Blvd., Room

491, Houston, TX 77204-5029, USA.

Email: ssmire@uh.edu

Funding information

Department of Psychological, Health, &

Learning Sciences at the University of Houston

Abstract

Objective: To identify caregiver cognitions and perceptions

that may contribute to parenting stress among families of

children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who receive

treatment for severe behaviors.

Background: Caregivers of children with ASD and comor-

bid problem behaviors often report significantly elevated

stress, but contributors to this phenomenon are not well

understood. Caregiver cognitions and perceptions poten-

tially explain such high stress and, therefore, may represent

a malleable intervention point that could positively affect

treatment outcomes and whole family well-being.

Method: Caregivers seeking function-based treatment for

their children at a community-accessible clinic (n=29)

completed standardized measures of parenting stress and

of perceptions about ASD and about child behavior

severity.

Results: Parenting stress measured at intake did not differ

between the Elevated and Within Normal Limits groups in

terms of child or caregiver demographics, such as house-

hold income or ethnicity. However, caregiver negative feel-

ings associated with an ASD diagnosis were significantly

higher in the Elevated group, and caregivers in the Ele-

vated group perceived their children’s behaviors as more

severe, even though all children were being treated for

severe behavior problems.

Conclusion: Findings suggest that a key differentiator

between parents who report elevated self-reported stress at

intake and those who do not are caregivers’cognitive rep-

resentations of their child’s diagnosis and behavioral

severity.

Received: 22 July 2020Revised: 17 December 2020Accepted: 4 April 2021

DOI: 10.1111/fare.12585

© 2021 National Council on Family Relations.

660 Family Relations. 2022;71:660–670.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare