Abstract:
Introduction. Studies worldwide reported increased levels of stress among parents of children
with autism due to the unique caregiving challenges. While research has shown that parents’
and autistic child’s demographics and behavioral characteristics are associated with psychological
distress among caregivers of children with autism, very few studies have investigated
the impact of the caregiver’s unmet needs on various aspects of the perceived family burden.
Methods. This cross-sectional study examined the prevalence of stress, anxiety and depressive
symptoms among a wide range of 146 parents with different sociodemographic characteristics,
social support and unmet needs who care for children with autism spectrum disorder.
These parents were recruited from autism non-governmental organizations and the
National Children’s Rehabilitation Center in Astana, Kazakhstan, a post-Soviet country in
Central Asia. Multiple linear regression analyses were utilized to examine the relationship
of parental psychological distress variables with social support, unmet needs and parental
and child sociodemographic characteristics.
Results. Significantly higher levels of stress and depression were reported among parents who
perceived their needs as being unmet or extremely unmet as addressed by societal acceptance
as compared to parents who reported adequate levels of needs met by social acceptance.
Employed parents and parents with a higher level of perceived friends’ support had less symptoms
of stress, anxiety, and depression.
Conclusions. Increasing public awareness about autism and providing early detection and
interventions for distressed caregivers of children with autism may be helpful in improving
healthy functioning of parents and the entire family.