A study on the marital adjustment, coping strategies and perceived social support in parents of children with autism

The aim of this study is to investigate the relation between marital adjustment, social support and ways of coping of the parents of children with autism. The sample of the study consists of 110 parents (56 mothers, 54 fathers) of the children between 2 and 19 years old with autism whose education continue in Tohum Autism Foundation. These children were diagnosed at various University Hospitals of child psychiatry clinics, according to DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criterias. Dyadic Adjustment Scale, Ways of Coping Scale, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support and Personal Information Form were applied to parents of children with autism. As a result of analysis of the data, marital adjustment, social support and ways of coping, differentiated among the demographic variables. There's no statisctic significant difference between gender and marital adjustment of parents of children with autism. There is statistic significant difference between gender and coping strategies. Mothers use higher problem focused coping strategies than fathers. There is statistic significant difference between gender and perceived social support; mothers perceive higher level of social support from family than fathers. There's not a significant difference in marital adjustment and perceived social support of married people according to income level and age. When the relationship between age and coping strategies of parents are compared, parents between 20 and 30 years old are more likely to use emotion focused coping strategies. There is a significant difference between coping strategies and income level. Parents having income level between 1000-3000 TL use more problem focused strategies than other groups. There isn't significant difference between perceived social support and coping strategies according to the age of the autistic child. When the relationship between age of parents and coping strategies are investigated, parents between the age of 20 and 30 use more emotion focused coping strategies. Parents whose children are 12 years old and over, have less dyadic consensus than other parents. There is no statistic significant difference between marital adjustment and coping strategies according to autistic child's gender. There is statistic significant difference between child's gender and perceived social support. Parents who have autistic daughters perceive higher levels of social support from a special person. There no statistic significant difference between another disabled person in the family and marital adjustment or coping strategies. But there is a significant difference between another disabled person in the family and seeking social support. In this study, relations between marital adjustment, coping strategies and perceived social support were investigated. Considering that there is a significant difference between perceived social support and marital adjustment of parents, perceived social support from families increases dyadic adjustment. There is statistic significant difference between problem focused coping and marital adjustment. In addition, parents who use problem focused coping strategies, perceive higher levels of social support. Results are generally coincides with the results in the literature. Keywords: Autism, Marital Adjustment, Social Support, Coping.