Optimism, social support, and well-being in mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder.
Family support fuels optimism in moms of kids with autism, so weave social-support planning into every parent training block.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team asked moms of kids with autism how much support they felt from family, friends, and partners.
They also measured how hopeful the moms felt and how satisfied they were with life.
A simple survey showed which kinds of support lifted optimism the most.
What they found
Family support came first: more of it raised optimism, and optimism then raised well-being.
Partner and friend support helped too, but they worked on their own, not through optimism.
In short, strong family ties acted like a mood booster for mothers.
How this fits with other research
Alon (2019) extends the same idea. That study compared moms of kids with autism to moms of kids with Down syndrome. Only the autism group showed that more support led to personal growth after crisis.
Lai et al. (2015) looks like a contradiction. They found high stress and depression in parents of kids with autism. The difference is focus: Wei counted clinical-level distress, while V et al. looked at what buffers it.
Payne et al. (2020) adds a twist. They showed that even pet support can lower parent stress, widening the menu of help you can suggest.
Why it matters
You already teach play and language skills. Fold one five-minute step into parent meetings: map the family support net. Ask who helps with dinner, bedtime, or a short break. Link moms to local autism parent groups and note pet ownership as another possible lift. Stronger support circles today can mean brighter, more hopeful moms tomorrow—and that helps the whole team stay consistent with therapy.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
This study used structural equation modeling to examine the relationship between multiple sources of social support (e.g., partner, family, and friends), optimism, and well-being among mothers of children with ASD. Social support was examined as a mediator and moderator of the optimism-maternal well-being relationship. Moreover, the role of optimism as a mediator of the social support-maternal well-being relationship was also evaluated. Results revealed that family support was associated with increased optimism that, in turn, predicted higher levels of positive maternal outcomes and lower levels of negative maternal outcomes. In addition, partner and friend support were directly associated with maternal outcomes. Implications for the development of interventions directed at increasing the quality of social support networks are discussed.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2010 · doi:10.1007/s10803-010-0986-y