Predictors of psychological wellbeing in Greek caregivers of children and adolescents with autism

This study explored the role of family, caregivers’ and child’ characteristics on the subjective wellbeing of Greek caregivers of children with autism . A total of 112 parents of children with autism aged 3-16 completed an online survey comprising of a questionnaire including demographic questions on marital status, family income and presence of additional children with disabilities in the family, and scales measuring subjective wellbeing scale, Sense of Coherence (SOC), Resilience, and child behaviour. Results revealed that SOC, and particularly meaningfulness, was the most influential factor on caregivers’ subjective wellbeing, although the caregiver being divorced and the child’s age also emerged as significant predictors. Other factors, such as the child’s behaviour, resilience and family income did not impact significantly on subjective wellbeing. This study adds to emerging evidence showing that the subjective wellbeing of caregivers is not related to children’s characteristics (i.e., behaviour), and we call for a shift to a theoretical perspective that moves away from considering the child with autism as the source of lower subjective wellbeing levels. and instead focuses on psychological protective characteristics (i.e., SOC) to develop interventions promotion these characteristics.