Assessment of resilience score in parents of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

ASD is a group of neuro-developmental disorders with impairment in social interaction and communication, and restricted stereotypical patterns and repetitive behaviors. Due to the importance of resiliency on parents well-being we decided to assess resiliency of parents of children with ASD and evaluate the correlation of resiliency in fathers and mothers. Materials and methods: in this cross-sectional study, parents of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder who referred to child and adolescent psychiatric clinics and comprehensive autism center of Tabriz university of medical sciences were selected (?) to participate in our study. We used Connor-Davidson resilience scale (CD-RISC) questionnaire to assess resilience score in parents. Parents of 107 children and adolescents who had received a diagnosis of ASD were studied. Results: In 63 cases, both parents participated in study and in 44 cases only a parent participated (31 mothers and 13 fathers). The numbers of mothers who participated were 94 and the numbers of fathers were 67. The mean age of children and adolescents was 8.5. Resilience scores did not differ across parental gender. Resilience scores of mothers and fathers correlated significantly in male children. There was a significant difference in mothers of children with severe disorders in comparison with children with mild and moderate disorders. Parents resilience scores did not differ across children genders and ages.