FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH COPING STRATEGIES UTILIZED BY

PARENTS OF CHILDREN DIAGNOSED WITH

AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS (ASD)

Presenter: Ingrid Paula J. Nicolas

Co-authors: Mark P. Mirambel, Ceasar Jay T. New Chua, Hilary I. Padilla,
Joemen V. Pastoril, Ma. Malar Vili O. Patiga, Joyce Yisabel A. Quiloa, Shane Cyril C.
Rapiz, Marielle Ashley V. Sevilla
Miss Ma. Concepcion B. Sekito, MPH, RN - Adviser

ABSTRACT

Out of factors identified, only two have a significant finding associated with
coping strategies of parents of children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders.
First of which suggest that mothers are acquire greater social support from family and
friends. Second is that reframing, which refers to the way of viewing and experiencing
events, ideas, concepts and emotions to find more positive alternatives, differ by family
monthly income.
It is recommended that other variables that would affect the coping strategies other
than just the profile of the respondents such as own personal experiences, outlook on
life and other areas not explored in this study should be touched to gain a more holistic
understanding of the subject.

INTRODUCTION

For the past several years, the number of children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum
Disorders (ASD) has almost doubled in the Philippines. One in 68 children worldwide
has autism. The figure is way above the 0.5 case in every 1,000 children in the 1980s
and one in 110 children in 2008. In the Philippines, estimated cases of autism rose from
500,000 in 2008 to one million people during 2014 as stated by Erlinda Borrome,
president of Autism Speaks Foundation.
Autism has been described as a condition with a greater number of stress than any
other disability. Parents and caregivers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders
(ASD) reported to experience greater parenting stress than parents of neuro-typical
children. Raising a child with autism is one of the hardest things a parent will ever have
to do. It is widely agreed that parenting is the hardest job of all and this is especially
true for parents of children with autism, who face a different set of challenges
(McKinney & Peterson).

Objectives of the Study:

The objective of this study was to determine the factors associated with coping
strategies utilized by parents of children diagnosed with ASD such as age, sex,
socio-economic status, highest educational attainment, and civil status in relation to
acquiring social support, reframing, seeking spiritual support, mobilizing to acquire
and accept help, passive appraisal. This study aimed to help parents become more
aware of their coping strategies and its implications on the care of their children.

Significance of the Study:

This research will provide a better understanding and increase significant
awareness of the relationship of the parents profile with what coping strategies they
utilize when caring for their child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It will
continuously improve the management of their children along with maximizing family
functioning. This will also help as a precursor to identifying better ways to care for the
family as a whole, especially encouraging inclusion of parents in the plan of care of
children diagnosed with ASD.

METHODOLOGY

Research Design:
The type of design utilized is descriptive correlational.

Study Locale:
The study was conducted at Molding Minds SPED Intervention and Learning
Center, Sto. Nio SPED Center, J.E.S.U.S. Kids Therapy Behavioral Center
Foundation, Inc., and the Leyte Family Development Organization, all of which are
located in Tacloban City.

Data Collection Method:

The data was collected by means of a self-administered questionnaire and
standardized scale.
Research Instruments:
The survey questionnaire comprised utilized in this study comprised of two main
parts: (1) parent respondents profile; (2) coping strategies utilized by parents of
children with ASD.
The first part covered the demographic information of the parent respondents
including, age, sex, civil status, employments status, monthly family income, and
highest educational attainment.
The second part consisted OF the questions from the Family Crisis Oriented
Personal Evaluation Scale (F-COPES). The questionnaire classified the coping
strategies into five, namely: acquiring social support, reframing, seeking spiritual
support, mobilizing to acquire and accept help; and passive appraisal.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Table I presents the distribution of profile of the parents who are directly involved
in taking care of children with ASD.
Table I. Distribution of the Profile of Parent Respondents

Profile Variables Frequency Percent

Age
Young 10 25.0
Middle 22 55.0
Senior 8 20.0
100.0
Sex
Male 17 42.5
Female 23 57.5
100.0
Civil Status
Single 9 22.5
Married 31 77.5
100.0
Employment Status
Employed 18 45.0
Unemployed 9 22.5
Self-employed 13 32.5
100.0
Family Monthly Income
Low 10 25.0
Moderate 14 35.0
High 10 25.0
No income 6 15.0
100.0
Highest Educational Attainment
Elementary 1 2.5
High School 4 10.0
College 35 87.5
100.0
 Out of the six factors identified, only Sex of the parent and Family Income
garnered significant results.

Table II. Coping Strategies in Relation to Sex

Mobilizing
Acquiring Seeking
the family to Passive
Coping Strategies social Reframing spiritual
acquire and appraisal
support support
accept help
Sex X SD X SD X SD X SD X SD

Male 2.75 0.85 3.04 1.25 3.00 1.28 2.94 1.18 2.57 0.94
Female 3.29 0.58 3.82 0.75 3.85 0.75 3.53 0.86 3.04 0.64

Mann-Whitney U 0.043* 0.064 0.067 0.121 0.080

Test
p-value

The results of the coping strategies in relation to sex, as depicted in Table II show
that there is no statistically difference of the coping strategies between male parents and
female parents, except for the coping strategy of acquiring social support. This means
that acquiring social support as coping strategy utilized by male parents is different
from female parents. In Grays (1994) study, families reported that they believe it is
difficult for society to accept a child with autism, and that there is social stigma and
embarrassment associated with the inappropriate public behavior that these children
might display.
Table III. Coping Strategies in Relation to Family Monthly Income

Mobilizing
Acquiring Seeking
the family to Passive
Coping Strategies/ social Reframing spiritual
acquire and appraisal
support support
accept help
Family Monthly X SD X SD X SD X SD X SD
Income
Low 3.11 0.80 3.25 1.08 3.45 1.13 3.28 1.07 2.88 0.89
Moderate 3.29 0.58 3.82 0.75 3.85 0.75 3.53 0.86 3.04 0.64
High 2.79 0.71 2.98 1.01 2.98 1.21 2.93 1.02 2.63 0.83
No Income 2.93 0.75 3.77 1.11 3.63 1.01 2.83 1.01 3.08 0.86
Kruskal-Wallis Test 0.110 0.018* 0.090 0.059 0.583
p-value
 As reflected in Table III, the results of the coping strategies in relation to family
monthly income indicate that there is no statistically difference of the coping strategies
across family monthly income, except for the coping strategy of reframing. According
to Ellis (1997), the use of reframing is considered to be an important coping mechanism
for families with a child with autism. Reframing refers to the way of viewing and
experiencing events, ideas, concepts and emotions to find more positive alternatives.
The quality of marital and family life is largely a function of the economic resources
available to individuals and families. Also, parents who have a higher income may also
have more resources available to them, which helps make the situation less stressful
and they may look at their situation as an opportunity for growth rather than an
uncontrollable, devastating event. (Pritzlaff, A., 2001).

CONCLUSIONS

1. There is a difference between mothers and fathers when it comes to Acquiring

Social Support, with mothers seeking more support from families and friends.
2. Economic factors (e.g, unemployment, low income) play an important part of
viewing and experiencing events, ideas, concepts and emotions in finding more
positive alternatives (reframing).
3. Seeking spiritual support was the most popular coping strategy used. Social and
spiritual support along with formal support such as community resources are
considered as external coping strategies and are of important use to parents of children
with ASD which conforms with McCubbin and Pattersons study on external coping
strategies.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Conduct further study on the assessment of other sources of stress that

may have affected parents responses, like significant life events are likely to raise
stress and conflicts between work and home may have a strong influence on parents
wellbeing.
 2. Parents of autistic children should be actively involved in an intensive
intervention program that will improve their skills and resources that would help them
ameliorate stress.
3. Increase public awareness on autism, so that families may no longer
continue to feel that that have hidden demographic and is easily ignored and discounted
by individuals.
4. Health professionals and other similar institutions be more attentive and
helpful to families with Autism Spectrum Disorder, so parents can spend less time
searching for services and with advocacy efforts and more time seeking coping
resources and helping their child to develop.
5. Further studies conducted on teachers of autistic children in schools.
6. A greater coverage and locale of the study and to include more parent
respondents in future studies.

REFERENCES:

1. Ellis, A. (1987). Rational emotive therapy: Current appraisal and future directions.
Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 1, 73-86.

2. Gray, D. E. (1994). Coping with autism: Stresses and strategies. Sociology of Health
and Illness, 16, 275300.

3. Gray, D. E. (2003). Gender and coping: The parents of children with high
functioning autism. Social Science and Medicine, 56, 631 642.

4. McCubbin, H., & Patterson, J. M. (1981). Systematic assessment of family stress,

resources, and coping: Tools for research, education and clinical intervention. St.
Paul: University of Minnesota.

5. McKinney, B. & Peterson, R.A. (1987). Predictors of stress in parents of

developmentally disabled children. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 12,
133-150.

6. Pritzlaff, A. (2001). Examining the Coping Strategies of Parents Who Have Children
with Disabilities. A Research Paper. The Graduate College University of
Wisconson Stout.