On The Investigation Into Mental Health, Needs And Social Supports Of Parents Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Raise the level of mental health of parents could improve the effect of intervention for children with autism. Understand needs of parents and available social supports could bring the social support system to completion.Many studies are involved with mental health and mental process of parents of children with ASD. This study investigates physiological factors, psychological factors and social factors produced an effect on mental health. Understand the gap between parents'needs and available social supports could bring the social support system to completion.This study investigates influence factors of mental health and explores relationship between needs of parents and available social supports of parents of children with ASD. Analysis relies on questionnaires to 189 parents whose children are autism in special education schools or kindergartens in Shanghai, Beijing, Shandong, and Hubei. The results are in the following:1. The mental health of parents of children with ASD is influenced by physiological factors, psychological factors and social factors; the maximal influence is psychological factors, the minimal influence is social factors. On the physiological factors, the maximal influence is the time stress of taking care children; the minimal influence is hurt to body health caused by the self mutilation and wounding of ASD children. On the psychological factors, the maximal influence is to worry about the future and aftercare of senility of children with ASD; the minimal influence is the aloneness that others can not understand them. On the social factors, the maximal influence is the narrow range of social communication; the minimal influence is the change of conjugal relationship. With the growing of education level, the influence of parents of children with ASD shows a trend of increasing in the physiological factors; the influence of parents of children with ASD in Shanghai, Beijing, Hubei and Shandong shows a trend of increasing in the psychological factors. With the growing of severe of disability the influence of parents of children with ASD shows a trend of increasing in the psychological factors; with the descending of the financial reward level and education of parents level, the influence of parents of children with ASD shows a trend of increasing in the psychological factors; with the descending of the financial reward level, the influence of parents of children with ASD shows a trend of increasing in the social factors.2. The needs of parents of children with ASD are included in mental and emotion needs, education and intervention needs, and social resources and service needs; The most needed is social resources and service needs, the least needed is mental and emotion needs. The most needed of the mental and emotion needs is how to adapt the children with ASD; the least needed is the formation of parent-child relationship. The most needed of the education and intervention needs is the aftercare of senility of children with ASD; the least needed is how to administrative time. The most needed of social resources and service needs is how to apply for the available rights; the least needed is how to communicate with professional. The education and intervention needs of parents of children with ASD in Shanghai, Shandong, Beijing and Hubei shows a trend of increasing; The education and intervention needs of parents of children with middle-grade ASD is more than low-grade ASD and high-grade ASD. The social resources and service needs of high-income parents of children with ASD is more than low-income and middle—income.3. The social supports for parents of children with ASD are included in information supports, emotion supports and instrument supports; the most social support is emotion supports, the least social support is instrument supports. The information supports for parents of children with ASD are the most, the one form teacher and expert than friends are the least; the emotion supports for parents of children with ASD form the case of preferred development are the most, the one from understand of mass social; the instrument supports for parents of children with ASD form family and friends are the most, and the one from professional as speech therapist and physical therapist.Finally, on the basis of analysis and discussion of mental health, needs and social supports of parents of children with ASD, several recommendations on mental health and level of life are given.