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Quality of Life in Neurotypical Siblings of Children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder: Associations with Parental Social Support and demographic variables

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2022

E. Koukouriki
E. Koukouriki*
Affiliation:
University of Ioannina, Special Education Lab, Department Of Primary Education, Ioannina, Greece
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Health Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) is acknowledged as an important construct in describing the individuals overall condition within the health context. In the case of families with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), neurotypical siblings’ HRQOL is an important concept for this at-risk population. Social support has been identified as an important protective factor against parental psychological problems. However, possible associations between HRQOL in neurotypical ASD-siblings and parental variables, such as perceived social support, remained unexplored in the ASD-siblings’ literature.

Objectives

This study aimed to investigate any association between HRQOL in neurotypical ASD-siblings and parental perceived social support and key demographic variables.

Methods

118 parent-child-dyads from Greek ASD-families that fulfilled inclusion criteria participated in this study and answered a demographic questionnaire. Parents were administered the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived-Social-Support (MSPSS), while the children answered the Kidscreen-27. A hierarchical multiple regression was performed to test the hypothesis.

Results

Hierarchical regression showed that neurotypical siblings HRQOL (as measured with KIDSCREEN-27 total score) was associated with perceived social support from the family (std beta=0.184; p=0.027; model 1), and this association persisted after demographics entered the model (std beta=0.369; p=0.015; model 2). Thus, it was found that the sibling’s HRQOL was associated with perceived social support from the family independent of demographics.

Conclusions

The results of the present study showed that the HRQOL in ASD-siblings is associated with perceived social support from the family, pointing to the need for supporting siblings and designing effective interventions in order to prevent possible mental health problems in neurotypical siblings of ASD individuals in the future.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.

Keywords

Quality of Lifeneurotypical siblingsparental perceived social supportAutism Spectrum Disorders
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 65 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 30th European Congress of Psychiatry , June 2022 , pp. S447
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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