Family system and coping behaviors: a comparison between parents of children with autistic spectrum disorders and parents with non-autistic children.
Autism parents carry heavier family strain, yet many marriages hold—so ask about stress even when things look stable.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Sivberg (2002) asked two groups of parents the same questions. One group had kids with autism. The other group had kids without autism.
The survey looked at how tense the home felt and how parents coped. It also asked about money, work, and free time.
What they found
Parents of kids with autism scored higher on family strain. They also scored lower on coping skills.
The gap was big enough to matter in daily life. More strain plus less coping equals quicker burnout.
How this fits with other research
Whaling et al. (2025) followed fathers for ten years. They found the same strain pattern, but it stayed high year after year.
Kuenzel et al. (2021) tracked moms. Child behavior problems plus money stress predicted growing depression. This adds a why: strain can snowball into mental health risk.
Choi et al. (2012) seems to disagree. They found no extra divorce in autism families. The trick: strain hurts mood, yet many couples still stay together. So screen for stress even when the marriage looks fine.
Why it matters
You already track aggression and language goals. Add one quick box: "Parent stress level." A five-point scale is enough. If the score creeps up, offer respite vouchers, parent training nights, or a simple coffee break card. Lowering parent stress gives you better follow-through on every other program you run.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The study deals with strain on the family system, as well as the level of coping and types of coping behavior of the parents, in families with a child diagnosed as having an autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) as compared to families in a control group. Thirty-seven families and 66 parents were involved in each case, and four psychological tests were used. It was found that lower levels of coping were associated with higher levels of strain on the family system, that the level of strain on the family system was greater in the families with a child with an ASD, and that the two groups differed in their pattern of coping behavior. It is argued that limited contact between the child with an ASD and its parents, claimed earlier to be a cause of autism, can be explained in terms of strain on the family system and the resulting pattern of coping.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2002 · doi:10.1177/1362361302006004006