Study On The Relationship Between Parenting Stress,General Self-Efficacy And Personality In Parents Of Children With Autism

Objective To explore the relationship between parenting stress, general self-efficacyand personality characteristics in parents of children with autism so as to provide a theoreticalbasis for carrying out psychological intervention and support.Methods A total of43parents of children with autism were investigated withParenting Stress Index Short Form (PSI-SF), General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES) andEysenck Personality Questionnaire(EPQ).Their scores were compared with that of86parentsof healthy children,data were analyzed by SPSS13.0.,including one sample t test, One-wayANOVA, Chi-square Test, Pearson correlation analysis and Logistic analysis.Results (1) There are no significant difference (P>0.05) in age, sex and parent’seducational level between the two groups.(2) Compared with parents of healthychildren,parents of children with autism experienced a significantly higher level in the totalscore of parenting stress and three subscale score (P<0.01).(3) The neuroticism (N) score inparents of children with autism is higher than parents of healthy children (P<0.01), and theextraversion (E) score in parents of children with autism is lower than parents of healthychildren (P<0.01).(4) The general self-efficacy scale (GSES) score in parents of childrenwith autism is lower than parents of healthy children (P<0.01).(5) In terms of thecorrelation between personality and parenting stress in parents of children with autism, wefound parental distress is negatively correlated with extraversion (E)(r=-0.418,P=0.005),positively correlated with neuroticism (N)(r=0.400,P=0.008); parent-child dysfunctionalinteraction is positively correlated with neuroticism(N)(r=0.342,P=0.025); difficult child isnegatively correlated with extraversion (E)(r=-0.312,P=0.042), positively correlated with neuroticism(N)(r=0.303,P=0.048); total parenting stress is negatively correlated withextraversion (E)(r=-0.422,P=0.005),positively correlated with neuroticism (N)(r=0.483,P=0.001).(6) In terms of the correlation between general self-efficacy andparenting stress in parents of children with autism, we found parental distress,parent-childdysfunctional interaction,difficult child and total parenting stress are all correlated withself-efficacy (r=-0.364,P=0.016;r=-0.326,P=0.033;r=-0.511,P=0.000;r=-0.466,P=0.002).(7)In terms of the correlation between general self-efficacy and personality in parents of childrenwith autism, we found general self-efficacy is positively correlated with extraversion (E)(r=0.575,P=0.000),negatively correlated with neuroticism (N)(r=-0.333,P=0.029).(8) Thestepwise liner regression shows that general self-efficacy, neuroticism and marital status cansignificantly predict the level of parenting stress in parents of children with autism(R2=0.243;R2=0.132; R2=0.123).Conclusion (1) Parenting stress in parents of children with autism is significantlyhigher.(2) The relationship among parenting stress, general self-efficacy and personality inparents of children with autism is significant, the higher general self-efficacy,the more theyare emotionally stable, outgoing,the lower the parenting stress level.(3) Generalself-efficacy and personality are predictive variables of parenting stress.This study implicatedthat necessary psychological intervention and support should be taken out to relieve theirstress,nurses should take relative nursing interventions to relieve the level of parenting stressin parents of children with autism.