Mental Health of Parents of Autistic Children in Relation to Education, Income and Employment Status

Abstract

Autism, a neurodevelopmental disorder in children, demands special attention from the parents and caregivers of the children with special needs than that of non-autistic children. It is always difficult for parents to ensure proper management of everything necessary for their children, and in case of autistic children, the efforts are higher and uniquely pressurizing, for they are to systemize their lives and adjust activities in special ways of both for their children’s lives and of their own to avoid any possible psychological disturbances. The present study was designed to examine the mental health of parents of autistic children in relation to education, income, and employment status. The cross-sectional survey design was used to conduct the study upon a total of 534 parents (number of parents with autistic children = 284, number of parents with non-autistic children = 250), selected purposively from different districts of Rajshahi division, Bangladesh. Anxiety Measuring Questionnaire, Depression Measuring Questionnaire, an adapted version of Life Stress Measuring Questionnaire, and a Personal Information Form (PIF) were administered to collect data; all questionnaires were used in their respective Bangla versions. In the course of the research, six objectives were set to investigate the mental health of parents with autistic children. The results had revealed that there were significant differences in anxiety, depression, and stress between parents of the autistic children and the non-autistic children. Results stated that there was a significant difference between fathers and mothers of autistic children in case of anxiety, depression, and stress. In addition, the study reported that parents with postgraduate degrees have higher mental health than graduate and undergraduate parents and similarly, parents who have graduated are found having a higher mental health than under graduate parents. The study also showed that in case of stress, parents from high income group expressed lower levels of stress than the parents from medium and low-income groups. Similarly, the parents from medium income group showed lower stress levels than the parents from low-income group. Furthermore, the results indicated that there were no significant differences in anxiety, depression, and stress in terms of the employment status of the parents of autistic children. Finally, the findings of this study alluded different interaction effects. For instance, an unemployed mother expressed more anxiety and depression than that of an employed mother. In addition, both postgraduate fathers and mothers expressed lower levels of depression than the graduate and undergraduate fathers and mothers.