autism spectrum disorders and family functioning sabrina grondhuis psychology and social behavior...
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Autism Spectrum Disorders Autism Spectrum Disorders and Family Functioningand Family Functioning
Sabrina GrondhuisSabrina Grondhuis
Psychology and Social BehaviorPsychology and Social Behavior
University of California, IrvineUniversity of California, Irvine
May 31, 2008May 31, 2008
Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)
Developmental disorder characterized by
3. Restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviorAmerican Psychiatric Association (2000)
2. Deficits in communication
1. Impaired social interactions
1 in 150 children is diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2007)
The Current Project
Investigations into multiple areas:
- Social Support- Father Involvement- Marital Quality- Psychosocial Wellbeing
Social Support
Internal Support
- e.g. family
External Support
- e.g. friends
Social Support
Actual sources of
support
Perceived sources of
support
Internal External
Actual
Perceived
Actual Internal
Actual External
Perceived Internal
Perceived External
Terminology
Hypotheses
• Parents of children with ASD would utilize more external resources than parents of typically developing children.
• Parents of children with ASD will utilize internal resources less than parents of typically developing children.
Method
• Subjects from the existing UCI Autism Research Project subject pool
• Also recruitment from For OC Kids
• Mothers and fathers completed identical questionnaire packets and individually return them to the lab
• N = 48
The Parents• 32 Mothers (66.6%)• 16 Fathers (33.3%)• 14 Dyads, including one set of female life
partners
Marital Status• 85.5% Married• 2% Single, Never Married• 8.5% Divorced• 4% Widowed
The Parents cont.
Ethnicity:• 77% Caucasian • 2% African American• 10.5% Hispanic• 10.5% Asian/Pacific Islander
Education Levels:• 4% High School • 12% Some College• 44% Four Year College• 39.5% Advanced Degree
The Children
ASD• 25 children• Ages 6-17, M=11.5, SD=3.57
Typical Children•9 children
•Ages 9-14, M=11.2, SD=1.86
Measures
Actual Social Support– Family Support Scale, 19 items (Dunst et al., 1988)
“In the last 3 to 6 months, how helpful were each of the following in raising your child?” (1=not helpful at all to 5=extremely helpful)
e.g. Spouse, coworkers, special education teachers, doctors.
Measures Continued
Perceived Social Support– Social Support Behaviors Scale, 90 items
(Vaux, et al, 1987)
“How likely is it that somebody would” (1=no one would do this to
5=most would certainly do this)e.g. Would comfort me if I was upset
Would loan me a sum of money
FindingsCompared to parents of typically developing children, parents of children with ASD reported lower means of:
Internal External
Actual
Perceived
Actual Internalp < .056
PerceivedInternalp < .003
PerceivedExternalp < .000
More Findings
Families with a child with ASD reported more actual external support (p = .019)
BUTwhen evaluating for sources applicable
to all respondents, there was no significant difference (p = .687)
Still More Findings
Findings were replicated when evaluating data based on:
- One member per family unit- Gender and ASD- Gender
Future Research
• Research is ongoing, so a larger sample for greater generalizability and to increase power to detect small and moderate differences
• Comparison to parents of children with other developmental disabilities
Thank you!Thank you!
Dr. Wendy GoldbergDr. Wendy Goldberg
Dr. Valerie JennessDr. Valerie Jenness
Agnes LyAgnes Ly
Maryam AbdullahMaryam Abdullah
Kara ThorsenKara Thorsen
Christine GarrisonChristine Garrison
Social Ecology Honors SeminarSocial Ecology Honors Seminar
Contact InformationContact InformationSabrina GrondhuisSabrina [email protected]@uci.edu