Assessment of health-related quality of life among primary caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorders.
Caregiver health is fragile—pair child goals with parent coping and social supports.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Khanna et al. (2011) asked US caregivers of children with autism to fill out a health-quality-of-life survey.
They compared the scores to national norms to see how caregiver health stacks up against the general public.
What they found
Caregivers scored lower in both mental and physical health than typical US adults.
The drop was tied to child behavior problems, poor social support, and caregiver coping style.
How this fits with other research
Laugeson et al. (2014) conceptually replicated the survey in Arab families but found no gender gap, while Rahul’s US sample showed overall worse health.
Searing et al. (2015) extends the picture: New Zealand caregivers also feel low support, with spouses helping more than stretched professionals.
Salomone et al. (2022) offers a fix—Italy’s public clinics delivered free WHO caregiver training that parents liked and staff could run.
Why it matters
If you run parent training or write behavior plans, screen caregiver strain at intake. Add brief coping-skills modules or link families to spouse-peer groups. Small supports can lift the adult who sustains the child’s program.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The impact of caring for a child with autism on caregivers' health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is not fully understood. The objective of this study was to compare the HRQOL scores of caregivers of children with autism to those of the general US population and to identify the factors that influence HRQOL. Caregivers of children with autism had lower HRQOL scores than the general population. Care recipient level of functional impairment, social support, use of maladaptive coping, and burden influenced caregiver mental HRQOL. Care recipient extent of behavioral problems and social support influenced caregiver physical HRQOL. Findings emphasize the use of multi-pronged intervention approach that incorporates components aimed at improving family functioning, increasing support services, and assisting caregivers in developing healthy coping skills.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2011 · doi:10.1007/s10803-010-1140-6