The impact of child's severity on quality-of-life among parents of children with autism spectrum disorder: the mediating role of optimism.

Abstract

Investigate the impact of child severity and optimism on quality-of-life in parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Additionally, the role of optimism as mediator between child's severity and parental quality-of-life was also evaluated Three hundred three parents of children with ASD were recruited from the local autistic centers and schools in Bangkok, Thailand. A set of demographic information sheet, the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), the Life Oriented Test-Revised (LOT-R), and the WHOQOL-BREF test were submitted for collecting parental information. Using Pearson Correlation, a significant negative association was found between child's severity and parental quality-of-life while optimism was found to correlate positively with parental outcomes. The finding from path-analysis confirmed that impairment of language and repetitive behavior of an ASD child associated with optimism that, in turn, predicted level of parental quality-of-life in all domains. The current findings assured a role of optimism as mediator between child's severity and parental quality-of-life. Implications for the development of intervention focused on enhancing parent's optimism were recommended.