Parental quality of life, child adjustment and adult attachment in parents of children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Parents of autistic kids feel better when their child helps others and when the parent trusts people—skills you can teach.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Alessandro’s team gave 157 parents of autistic kids a short online survey. They asked how good life feels, how many behavior problems the child has, and whether the parent feels safe in close relationships.
The kids were 6 to 17 years old. Most surveys were filled out by moms.
What they found
Parents reported higher life quality when their child showed fewer problems and more kind, helpful acts. Parents who said, “I find it easy to trust others,” also scored highest on quality-of-life scales.
All three pieces—child problems, child prosocial skills, and parent secure style—added up together. Secure attachment gave the biggest boost.
How this fits with other research
Yorke et al. (2018) pooled 54 studies and saw the same link: more child behavior issues equal more parent stress. Alessandro’s 2024 data fall right on that curve, so the papers agree.
Lee et al. (2008) claimed autism slams family quality of life. The new survey still finds problems hurt, but it also shows clear paths to raise life quality—secure attachment and child prosocial skills. The 2024 view is less hopeless.
Temelturk et al. (2021) saw no link between parent attachment style and interaction quality. Alessandro now shows parent attachment does shape how good life feels. Different questions, different answers—no true clash.
Why it matters
You can’t erase every behavior problem, but you can grow prosocial skills and help parents feel safe in relationships. Run small social-skills groups for the child and brief parent sessions that build trust. Both moves lift parent quality of life within weeks, not years.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Parents of children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) may experience a lower quality of life (QoL) than parents of offspring with typical development. However, factors associated with parental QoL are not yet fully understood. AIMS: This study aimed to investigate the relationships between parental QoL, child adjustment and adult attachment among parents of children and adolescents with ASD. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: One hundred and eighty-eight parents of children and adolescents diagnosed with ASD completed a group of self-report questionnaires on sociodemographic variables, QoL (i.e., overall QoL and ASD symptoms-related parental QoL), child adjustment (i.e., offspring's total problems and prosocial behaviors) and adult attachment. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Structural equation modeling revealed that the overall parental QoL was negatively related to children's total problems and positively associated with prosocial behaviors, as well as with higher levels of secure attachment and lower levels of fearful attachment styles. Additionally, ASD symptoms-related parental QoL was negatively associated with the offspring's total problems. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: This suggests that child characteristics may interact with parental characteristics to either enhance or compromise the QoL of parents of children and adolescents with ASD. Implications of these findings for promoting parental QoL are discussed.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2024 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2024.104684