Psychological characteristics and physiological reactivity to acute stress in mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder

Stress related to parenting a child with autism spectrum disorder can differently affect caregiver's physiological reactivity to acute stress. Here, parental stress levels, psychological characteristics, and coping strategies were assessed alongside measures of heart rate, heart rate variability, and cortisol during a psychosocial stress test in mothers of children with ASD (M‐ASD, n = 15) and mothers of typically developing children (n = 15). M‐ASD reported significantly higher levels of parental stress, anxiety, negative affectivity, social inhibition, and a larger preference for avoidance strategies. M‐ASD showed larger heart rate and cortisol responses to the psychosocial stress test. A positive relationship was found between parental stress levels and the magnitude of the cortisol stress response in both groups. The present findings indicate exaggerated physiological reactivity to acute psychosocial stress in M‐ASD and prompt further research to explore the role of individual differences in mediating the effects of parental stress on physiological stress responses.     

Time burden of caring and depression among parents of individuals with cerebral palsy

Purpose: The presence of an individual with disability in a family affects the whole family. Families of individuals with cerebral palsy (CP) experience increased psychological anxiety and financial problems; specifically, parents tend to feel time pressure and struggle to maintain their social and cultural activities.

Methods: t-Tests and ANOVA with post hoc Tukey tests were used to compare caregiving time, time pressure, and depression between parents. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to examine the effect of caregiving time and time pressure on depression in parents.

Results: Regarding depression, 58 (38.2%) respondents scored ≥16 on the Center for Epidemiological Studies – Depression scale. Respondents supporting a preschool child spent more time than those supporting adults did; those supporting adults reported less time pressure than those supporting individuals of other ages. Caregiving time’s effect on depression was not supported, whereas increased time pressure raised the risk of depression.

Conclusions: The frequency of depression among parents supporting individuals with CP exceeded preceding findings. Time pressure due to support appears to directly predict depression. Total time spent caring appears unrelated to depression.

• Implications for Rehabilitation

• It is necessary to prepare various community and family support systems in order to relieve parental caregivers’ burden and exhaustion.

• Interventions should focus on parents with higher time pressure than parents with high caregiving time.

• Physical and psychological difficulties experienced by parents supporting a child with a disability vary with the child’s life stage, meaning that families’ care burden partly depends on the age of the individual with disabilities.

     

The needs of family caregivers of frail elders during the transition from hospital to home: a Taiwanese sample

The needs of family caregivers of frail elders during the transition from hospital to home: a Taiwanese sample This study explored the needs of family caregivers during the transition from hospital to home. Data from 37 face-to-face interviews with 16 caregivers before discharge and at 2 weeks and 1 month after discharge were subjected to constant comparative analysis. Findings revealed changes in family caregivers' needs during the discharge transition. While preparing to take caregiving responsibility, caregivers reported a need for various types of information. After the discharge, but before home caregiving settled into a pattern, they needed help with caregiving practices. After reaching a pattern for providing family care, caregivers frequently reported needs for continuous emotional support. These findings provide a basis for transitional care services such as discharge planning and home health care services.