Abstract :

Parents of children with autistic disorder experience a unique form of stress that varies significantly according to socio-cultural contexts. This review aims to investigate the stress levels of parents with children with autistic disorder and identify variables that predict parenting stress. A search of CINAHL, Springer, Pub Med, and EBSCO databases between the years 2001-2015 was conducted using the following keywords: parent stress, impact stress on parent, child with autistic disorder, psychological well-being, and 35 articles out of 56 articles were included in this review. The literature showed that socio-demographic variables influenced parental stress levels. The highest levels of stress were reported for the cases: mothers younger than 30 years old, children younger than 6 years old, a recent diagnosis, low educational level, low monthly income. Additionally, a major impact of autistic disorder on parents in relation to their mental health and the family-child relationship was discussed