Type
Text
Type
Dissertation
Advisor
O'Leary, Daniel | Davila, Joanne | Moyer, Anne | Blader, Joseph | Feeley, Kathleen.
Date
2014-12-01
Keywords
Autism, Developmental Disabilities, Marital Satisfaction, Parenting | Clinical psychology
Department
Department of Clinical Psychology.
Language
en_US
Source
This work is sponsored by the Stony Brook University Graduate School in compliance with the requirements for completion of degree.
Identifier
http://hdl.handle.net/11401/77196
Publisher
The Graduate School, Stony Brook University: Stony Brook, NY.
Format
application/pdf
Abstract
Studies have shown that parents of children with ASD report greater negative impact of the child on family adaptation including financial stability, sibling relationships, and parents' social lives than parents of children with other chronic problems (e.g. | Down syndrome, ADHD, ODD). Parents of children with ASD also report increased marital discord and parent stress. Currently there are no studies examining differences in parent perceptions of child impact and how this factor may influence parental relationships, particularly parents' spousal relationships and agreement on co-parenting. In this study, 157 mothers of children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Down syndrome (DS), and Typically Developing (TD) children completed measures online that assessed child impact on the family, marital satisfaction, co-parenting alliance, and child symptom severity. Results showed that mothers of children with ASD reported greater negative impact, lower marital satisfaction, decreased parent alliance, and higher child symptomatology compared to both other groups. Contrary to past research, the DS group did not differ from the TD group on measures of marital satisfaction and parent alliance. Further, child impact negatively predicted marital satisfaction and parent alliance for the ASD group only. Implications are discussed in terms of family adaptation and resilience for parents of children with developmental disabilities. Treatment considerations include a focus on improving parenting and marital relationships as well as child behavior in order to improve quality of life for families of children with ASD. | 59 pages
Recommended Citation
Walsh, Caitlin E., "The Impact of Children with and without Developmental Disabilities on Relationship Satisfaction and the Parenting Alliance" (2014). Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions). 3030.
https://commons.library.stonybrook.edu/stony-brook-theses-and-dissertations-collection/3030