Mental Health and Coping in Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Singapore: An Examination of Gender Role in Caring.

Ang et al. (2019) asked moms and dads of kids with autism in Singapore to fill out a survey. They wanted to know who feels more stress and how different ways of coping change the link between stress and depression.

Mothers said they were more stressed than fathers. For fathers, higher stress led to higher depression. For both parents, using active-avoidance coping made the stress–depression link weaker.

Hagopian et al. (2005) mapped four coping styles in ASD parents years earlier; Ping’s work shows one of those styles can protect mental health.

Brillet et al. (2023) went further and found Mom’s emotion-focused coping lifts Dad’s quality of life too—evidence that helping one parent helps the pair.

Wang et al. (2025) tracked parents over six months and saw active coping boost both social support and resilience, giving a time-lagged proof for Ping’s snapshot result.

When you meet an ASD family, check how each parent copes. Teach fathers concrete active-coping moves first; their mood sinks faster when stress climbs. Offer joint sessions so Mom’s new skills also shield Dad. One quick step: add a five-minute coping plan to every parent training you run.