Quality of Life, Coping Styles, Stress Levels, and Time Use in Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Comparing Single Versus Coupled Households

Tomomi McAuliffe*, Reinie Cordier, Sharmila Vaz, Yvonne Thomas, Torbjorn Falkmer

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

26 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the influence of differences in household status on the parental stress, coping, time use and quality of life (QoL) among mothers of children with autism spectrum disorders. Forty-three single and 164 coupled mothers completed the survey. Data were analysed using multivariate logistic regression. We found that single mothers were 1.05 times more likely to report lower levels of environmental QoL. Whilst they were 1.73 times more likely to use acceptance coping style, this association did not persist after adjusting for total number of children, household income and employment status. There was no difference in time use and stress between these mothers. Possible environmental issues for single mothers and implications for future research are discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3189-3203
Number of pages15
JournalJournal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
Volume47
Issue number10
Early online date20 Jul 2017
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Oct 2017
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • ASD
  • Coping
  • Quality of life
  • Single and coupled mothers
  • Stress
  • Time use

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Quality of Life, Coping Styles, Stress Levels, and Time Use in Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Comparing Single Versus Coupled Households'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this