Psychological distress related to raising a child with autism: The impact of parental medical utilization

Objective. Scientific and theoretical literature demonstrates that parents of children with autism are faced with a unique set of challenges associated with increased levels of psychological distress (e.g., Bouma & Schweitzer, 1990; Bristol et al., 1988; Koegel et al., 1992; Midence & O'Neill, 1999; Siegel, 1997). This finding has yet to be considered in relation to research that correlates emotional distress and the utilization of medical services (Andrews et al., 1977; Follette & Cummings, 1967; Houpt et al., 1980). The current study applies medical utilization as a new variable for understanding the effects of parenting a child with autism. The hypothesis is that parents raising children with autism utilize more medical services than parents of children with mental retardation or parents of typically developing children. Method. Medical utilization data were obtained through Kaiser Permanente Health Plan on 386 parents of children with autism. The number of outpatient visits of these parents was compared to the utilization of 97 randomly selected parents of children diagnosed with mental retardation and 97 randomly selected parents of typically developing children for a 28-month period. Results. No significant difference in utilization was found between the three groups. The only significant effect was for gender in that women used more medical services. Conclusions. Measuring parental distress among parents of children with autism appears to be too complex to be demonstrated solely through medical utilization rates. Further information on demographics and experiences of parents and probands is needed to understand the relationship between medical utilization and stress in parents of children with autism. This is the first reported study to consider this question and should be replicated with adjustments in methodology.