Empowerment in Polish fathers of children with autism and Down syndrome: the role of social support and coping with stress - a preliminary report.
Fathers of autistic children with ID feel less family empowerment than fathers of children with Down syndrome, and social support alone does not close the gap.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers in Poland asked the fathers to fill out a short survey. Half had a child with autism plus ID, half had a child with Down syndrome, and a small group had typically developing kids.
The survey measured family empowerment: how much control and support dads feel while raising their child. It also asked about social support and coping style.
What they found
Fathers of autistic children with ID scored lowest on empowerment. Fathers of children with Down syndrome scored in the middle, and fathers of typical kids scored highest.
Social support helped the Down syndrome group most. For the autism plus ID group, support did not raise empowerment as much.
How this fits with other research
LeBlanc et al. (2003) already showed that fathers of children with Down syndrome feel less parenting stress than fathers of children with other ID labels. Granieri et al. (2020) now adds that these same fathers also feel more empowered than dads of autistic children with ID.
Schneider et al. (2006) trained fathers of autistic children to wait and imitate during play. Child language grew after the training. Together the two papers say: dads matter, and giving them tools can change child outcomes.
Rivard et al. (2014) found that fathers of autistic children feel more stress than mothers. Granieri et al. (2020) shows this stress may come with low empowerment, pointing to the need for father-focused supports.
Why it matters
If you run parent training, invite fathers and check their empowerment level. A quick rating scale can flag the dads who need extra support or direct coaching. When fathers feel heard and capable, they stay engaged and the child gets more hours of high-quality teaching.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Although empowerment is an important factor in the adaptation of parents of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities, our understanding of empowerment in fathers or how it relates to coping with stress and subjective social support is limited. In Poland, families with children with intellectual and developmental disabilities experience many challenges because of insufficient support. Although parental contribution to developing different forms of services for people with disability is crucial, the potential of fathers is underestimated and poorly understood. METHODS: The study enrolled 35 fathers of children with autism with intellectual disability, 37 fathers of children with Down syndrome and 40 fathers of typically developing children. They completed three questionnaires: Family Empowerment Scale, Ways of Coping Questionnaire and Social Support Questionnaire - Short Form. RESULTS: Compared with other groups, family empowerment was lower in fathers of children with autism. No group differences were found for the service system and community dimensions of empowerment. In the fathers of children with autism, social support was not related to empowerment, but there was a negative correlation between emotional coping and service system. Satisfaction with social support in fathers of children with Down syndrome correlated positively with the community dimension of empowerment. CONCLUSIONS: Results show that fathers of children with autism and intellectual disability require support in family empowerment and that the significance of emotion-focused and problem-focused coping and social support in the context of empowerment differs in fathers of children with autism and Down syndrome. These results should be considered preliminary because of the limited sample size.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2020 · doi:10.1111/jir.12681