Division of labor in families of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

Couples who have a child or adolescent with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are faced with the difficult decision of how to divide child care responsibilities and paid employment. The authors examined the division of labor and its relation to parenting stress and marital adjustment in 73 married couples who have a child or adolescent with ASD. Mothers and fathers independently reported on their global level of parenting stress and marital adjustment and then completed a 7-day online daily diary of time spent in child care, time spent in paid employment, and satisfaction with the time that one's spouse spent in child care. Overall, couples demonstrated a pattern of partial role specialization in which mothers engaged in more child care and fathers engaged in more paid employment. Child age was negatively related and degree of disability was positively related to role specialization. Time spent in paid employment and satisfaction with the time that one's spouse spent in child care had important associations with parenting stress and marital adjustment.