Dyadic Effect of Coping on the Perceived Impact of ASD of Children on Parental Quality of Life: Report from the ELENA Cohort

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has a significant impact on the quality of life (QoL) of families. This study aimed to examine, for parents of children with ASD, the dyadic effect of each parent’s coping strategy on the perception of the impact of ASD on their QoL. In total, 164 couples completed self-report questionnaires, including the Par-DD-QoL, to evaluate the parental perception of QoL. Results from the actor-partner interdependence model showed that, in addition to the effect of the mothers’ and fathers’ emotion-focused coping on their own perception of QoL, the mothers’ emotion-focused coping plays a key role in the fathers’ perception of QoL. These findings suggest that both parents of children with ASD would benefit from couple-focused interventions.