1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«[T]he purpose of this study was to examine the effects of child and parents’ personal characteristics, environmental characteristics, as well as psychosocial variables on the quality of life of French Canadian parents of a child with ASD [autism spectrum disorder].» (p. 956)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«Overall, 77 parents participated in this study: 71 mothers, five fathers, and one individual of unspecified gender. […] They were recruited through a private clinic specialized in ASD (46.5%), by the psychologist in charge of children’s follow-up, as well as through a call for participation posted on the “Fédération Québécoise de l’Autisme” website.» (p. 956)

Instruments :
Questionnaires

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

Authors show that «parents’ quality of life varied with their perception of their child’s level of adaptive functioning, with greater implications for parents whose child was not autonomous. […] As to the parents’ characteristics, [their] data showed that parents who had to reorganize their professional activities and to change the way they organized family life with their partner to care for their child had a poorer quality of life. […] In addition, the more participants perceived their experience as a threat and a loss, the more it affected their quality of life. This result is in line with the literature that shows that parents who experience higher stress levels have a poorer quality of life. […] Moreover, it appeared that the more participants felt responsible for the manifestations of their child’s disorder, the more they struggled.» (p. 960-961) «As regards coping strategies, [...] results showed that parents who focused on their emotions to face the situation struggled more to pursue their everyday activities and had a more disturbed relationship with their child with ASD. On the contrary, parents who used coping strategies that aim to solve the problem or seek social support had better relationships with their child and were more content.» (p. 963)