A Comparison of Parenting Daily Hassles in Parents of Children with Autism and Typically Developing Children

Parenting a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is known to be highly stressful and has been reported to be more difficult than parenting children with different types of disability, or with no disability; however, the daily hassles that contribute to the increased stress for this specific group have not been studied systematically. The main goal of this research was to determine what areas of daily strain are most prevalent in the lives of parents with young children with autism. Participants were 16 parents of a child with ASD and 16 parents of a child without ASD (child age range: 47-78 months). Parenting daily hassles and demographic features were assessed using questionnaires. We investigated which specific daily hassles uniquely characterize the lives of parents of children with ASD in comparison to the hassles characterizing the lives of parents of typically developing children. Parents of children with ASD experienced greater levels, frequency, and intensity of daily hassles, particularly in relation to hassles associated with diagnostic criteria of ASD including social communication difficulties and restricted and repetitive patterns of behaviour. Further, additional factors such as marital status influenced parenting daily hassles, with parents of children with ASD experiencing greater levels of daily hassles when raising a child as a single parent. Determining the aspects of daily life that are most difficult for parents of children with ASD can inform policy priorities and decisions about the types of supports would be most helpful.M.A