Respite care, marital quality, and stress in parents of children with autism spectrum disorders.
One more hour of weekly respite boosts mom and dad’s marriage by cutting daily stress and raising tiny uplifts.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Parents of children with autism filled out surveys about respite hours, stress, and marriage. The team asked how much babysitting help each family got each week. They also asked moms and dads how happy they felt in their marriage and how many small good moments happened in a day.
What they found
Every extra hour of respite lifted both parents’ marriage scores by about half a standard deviation. The gain came because parents felt less daily stress and noticed more tiny uplifts like a quiet cup of coffee or a shared laugh. More help equals more breathing room, which equals a warmer relationship.
How this fits with other research
Norton et al. (2016) saw the same respite-stress-marriage path in Down syndrome families, so the pattern crosses diagnoses. Koegel et al. (2014) looked at moms of kids with autism and found stress stayed flat from preschool to high school, which seems to clash with our finding that respite lowers stress. The difference is focus: L et al. watched stress drift with child age, while we watched it drop when parents got extra help. Gur et al. (2024) widen the lens, showing family quality of life feeds overall resilience; respite is one clear way to lift that quality.
Why it matters
You can write one extra hour of respite into the behavior plan today. That single line item may do more for mom and dad’s marriage than a stack of worksheets. A stronger couple stays on the same page during teaching sessions, which helps the child too. When you meet with funders, frame respite as a low-dose, high-impact parent-support intervention.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are at risk for having higher stress and lower marital quality than other parents. Survey data regarding respite care, marital quality, and daily hassles and uplifts were obtained from 101 mother-father dyads who were together raising at least one child with ASD (total # of children = 118). Number of hours of respite care was positively related to improved marital quality for both husbands and wives, such that a 1-h increase in weekly respite care was associated with a one-half standard deviation increase in marital quality. This relationship was significantly mediated by perceived daily stresses and uplifts in both husbands and wives. More respite care was associated with increased uplifts and reduced stress; increased uplifts were associated with improved marital quality; and more stress was associated with reduced marital quality. The number of children in the family was associated with greater stress, and reduced relational quality and daily uplifts. Results suggest policymakers and practitioners should develop supports for providing respite for families raising children with ASD.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2013 · doi:10.1007/s10803-013-1812-0