Brief report: Parenting stress among Chinese and Dutch caregivers of children with autism

Fangyuan Liu, Sander Begeer, Rosa A. Hoekstra, Qiao Bai, Chongying Wang*, Anke M. Scheeren

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Background: Parenting stress is higher in caregivers of autistic compared to typically developing children. Culture and context may impact parenting stress. Some studies suggest that Asian caregivers with autistic children experience more stress compared to European/American caregivers although similar levels have also been reported. Child and caregiver factors (age, gender, income and educational level) may affect parenting stress differently in Asian and European countries. We compared parenting stress levels between caregivers of autistic children from China and the Netherlands, and examined the impact of caregiver factors (age, income, educational level) and child factors (gender) on parenting stress in both countries, and exploring the association with caregivers’ worries about COVID-19. Method: We used the 11-item Parenting Distress Subscale (PD) of the Nijmegen Parenting Stress Index (NPSI-PD) to compare parenting stress between two groups: 95 Chinese caregivers (76 boys; 19 girls) and 118 Dutch caregivers of autistic children (93 boys; 25 girls) aged 2–16 years. Controlling for child's gender, caregivers’ age, income, educational level and COVID-19-related concerns. Results: Chinese caregivers of autistic children reported higher parenting stress levels than Dutch caregivers, despite fewer COVID-19 worries. Younger caregivers reported more parenting stress in both countries. Conclusion: Culture and context may play a role in the parenting stress of caregivers with an autistic child. Factors influencing parenting stress in different socio-cultural settings are an important issue that requires further study.

Original languageEnglish
Article number102224
Pages (from-to)1-8
Number of pages8
JournalResearch in autism spectrum disorders
Volume107
Early online date16 Aug 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
FL is funded by China Scholarship Council for the study at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. SB and AMS are financially supported by the NWO (grant no. Aut.17.006 ) and the ZonMW (grants no. 40-00812-98-16064 and 60-63600-98-834 ). RAH receives support from the National Institute of Health Research ( NIHR200842 ) using UK aid from the UK Government. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care. CW is funded by the grants from the Humanities and Social Sciences Youth Foundation of the Ministry of Education of China ( 13YJCZH167 ). The funding bodies did not have a role in the design of the study, data collection, analysis or interpretation of data, or the drafting of the manuscript.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors

Funding

FL is funded by China Scholarship Council for the study at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. SB and AMS are financially supported by the NWO (grant no. Aut.17.006 ) and the ZonMW (grants no. 40-00812-98-16064 and 60-63600-98-834 ). RAH receives support from the National Institute of Health Research ( NIHR200842 ) using UK aid from the UK Government. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care. CW is funded by the grants from the Humanities and Social Sciences Youth Foundation of the Ministry of Education of China ( 13YJCZH167 ). The funding bodies did not have a role in the design of the study, data collection, analysis or interpretation of data, or the drafting of the manuscript.

Keywords

  • Autism spectrum disorders
  • Caregivers
  • China
  • Culture
  • Parenting stress
  • The Netherlands

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