Predicting Mental Health and Psychological Wellbeing in Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Roles of Intolerance of Uncertainty and Coping.
Moms of kids with ASD feel worse when they hate surprises and dodge problems—teach them plan-making skills to lift mood and therapy gains.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Cai et al. (2020) asked moms of kids with autism to fill out surveys. The team wanted to see if two things—intolerance of uncertainty and coping style—could predict anxiety, depression, and overall wellbeing.
No therapy was given. Moms simply answered questions about how they handle stress and how they feel day to day.
What they found
Moms who hate not knowing what will next happen reported more anxiety and depression. Moms who used avoidant coping (ignoring problems) also felt worse.
Moms who used problem-focused coping (making plans, asking for help) reported better psychological wellbeing.
How this fits with other research
Uljarević et al. (2016) showed that sensory sensitivity raises anxiety only when it fuels intolerance of uncertainty. Ying’s team widens the lens by adding coping style as another lever.
Lai et al. (2015) already found that avoidant coping links to higher depression in ASD parents. Cai et al. (2020) keep that story alive and add intolerance of uncertainty as a second risk factor.
Miezah et al. (2026) tracked families for two years and found that active coping lowers long-term stress. Ying’s cross-sectional data echo the same protective signal.
Why it matters
If you run parent training or support groups, screen for intolerance of uncertainty and teach concrete problem-solving steps. Swapping avoidant habits for small action plans can lower parent stress, which in turn boosts the whole home environment and therapy progress.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Research has consistently shown that parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are more likely to report chronic stress and symptoms of psychopathology when compared to parents of typically developing children and children with other psychological or physical conditions. Certain individual characteristics might either put parents at risk or allow them to cope more effectively under the strenuous conditions of raising children with neurodevelopmental conditions. Previous research has suggested that higher levels of intolerance of uncertainty and certain coping styles are associated with higher parental levels of anxiety and depression. The aim of this study is to characterize the way in which intolerance of uncertainty and coping (avoidant and problem-focused coping) predict mental health and psychological wellbeing in parents of children with ASD. Only mothers participated in this study. Fifty mothers (Mage = 44.28 years, SDage = 6.58) of children with ASD completed questionnaires assessing anxiety and depression, psychological wellbeing, intolerance of uncertainty, and avoidant and problem-focused coping. The results from this study provide preliminary evidence that higher use of problem-focused coping but not avoidant coping and intolerance of uncertainty predicts psychological wellbeing. Furthermore, our observation of greater intolerance of uncertainty and higher use of avoidant coping predicting anxiety and depression supports previous research. The findings from this study have implications for the development of intervention programs to help improve the mental health and psychological wellbeing of parents. LAY SUMMARY: This research studied the factors that impact the mental health of parents of children on the autism spectrum. We found that mothers, who are not comfortable with uncertainty, use more avoidant coping, and less problem-focused coping have poorer mental health. Identifying these factors is a crucial first step in developing intervention programs to help improve the mental health of parents. Autism Res 2020, 13: 1797-1801. © 2020 International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals LLC.
Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2020 · doi:10.1002/aur.2341