Bio-ecological factors associated with the psychological distress of fathers of children with autism spectrum disorder: A population-based study of Australian families.
Fathers of autistic children feel most distressed when they carry recent depression, poor job control, and thin social support.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers looked at 3,500 Australian dads who have a child with autism.
They asked about past depression, job control, sick leave rules, and how much help dads get from friends or family.
Then they checked which things best predicted high stress scores on a standard mental health survey.
What they found
Dads felt worst when they had recent depression, little say at work, or no paid leave.
Low social support pushed stress even higher.
These three risks together explained most of the distress in these fathers.
How this fits with other research
Bassett-Gunter et al. (2017) showed that when kids get CBT, parent depression drops. Monique et al. now say past depression is the top risk for dads. The papers line up: treat dad’s mood early and child therapy may help too.
Feng et al. (2025) found that mindfulness lowers parenting stress by building resilience. Monique et al. point to low social support as a key stress driver. Together they tell us to boost both coping skills and outside help.
Burrows et al. (2018) studied mothers and saw grief tied to seeing autism as a loss, while distress was tied to prior mental health issues. Monique et al. echo the mental health link in fathers, showing the pattern crosses parent gender.
Why it matters
When you meet a dad at intake, ask three quick questions: any past depression, can he take time off work, who backs him up. If any flag is low, add parent mood checks and link him to local dad groups or EAP leave coaching. Small screen, big payoff.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Using a bio-ecological framework, the aim of this study was to examine factors associated with psychological distress experienced by fathers of children with autism spectrum disorder from a nationally representative sample of Australian children and their families. Individual (e.g. age and self-efficacy), interpersonal (e.g. partner distress, couple relationship, child behaviour and social support) and social environmental factors (e.g. job quality and financial hardship) were explored as potential predictors of fathers' distress. Data were drawn from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, where 159 fathers of children with autism spectrum disorder were identified. As comparison, 6578 fathers of children without developmental disabilities were identified. Multiple regression analyses showed that experiencing depression within the past year, job quality (e.g. autonomy and access to parental leave) and social support were significant predictors for fathers of children with autism spectrum disorder. The importance of supporting the well-being of fathers of children with autism spectrum disorder is discussed.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2018 · doi:10.1177/1362361317709971