Parenting a child with an autism spectrum disorder: a review of parent mental health and its relationship to a trauma-based conceptualisation

Abstract

The impact on parental psychological functioning as a result of living with disruptive, challenging, and dangerous behaviours exhibited by some children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is investigated. Core features of ASD along with aggression, elopement, self-injury, and suicidal ideation can cause significant parental distress. This parenting experience may be associated with depression, anxiety, somatisation, and anger-hostility. It is proposed that a traumatic stress framework may assist in conceptualising some parents’ experiences and psychological symptomatology. A systematic review revealed only one study that had explored posttraumatic stress symptoms amongst parents of children..