Coping with Stress and Posttraumatic Growth in Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Abstract

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are likely to be under a permanentstress. ASD diagnosis is recognized as trauma which, apart from having negative impact, may betreated as developmental factor for parents and lead to posttraumatic growth (PTG). The aim of theresearch was to study the relationship between coping strategies and PTG in the group of 114parents of ASD children, aged 22 to 51. Gratitude variable was also controlled. The hypothesiswas that positive coping strategies are related with PTG. The following research tools were used:Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) in adaptation of Ogińska-Bulik and Juczyński, Inventory to Measure Coping Strategies with Stress (Mini-COPE) in the adaptation by Juczyński andOgińska-Bulik and the Gratitude Questionnaire (GQ-6) adapted by Kossakowska and Kwiatek.The research is a part of a wider study which aims to identify the psychological predictors ofPTG in the group of parents of children with ASD. The results indicate the significant role ofpositive coping strategies and gratitude as factors influencing the PTG in the group of surveyedparents.