The primary caregiver’s stress: its correlation with the chronological and diagnostic age of children with autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

Background and Objective: Autism is a neurodevelopmental and heterogeneous disorder that affects people of all ages; also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Nurturing these children puts a tremendous burden on the primary caregivers. It may be due to some compelling reasons, including existential concerns to unknown etiology of autism and lack of understanding of its nature. The aim of the study was to evaluate the stress level in the primary caregivers and its relationship with child’s chronological and diagnosis age. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 96 primary caregivers (mothers, fathers, siblings, and grandparents) of children diagnosed with ASD reporting at government and non-government institutes of Lahore city. The childhood autism rating scale was used to confirm the diagnosis of autistic children. The parent stress scale was used to evaluate stress levels in primary caregivers.Results: The mean age of the autistic children was 5.1 ± 2.5 years, while the mean age at the time of diagnosis was 3.2 ± 1.1 years. The mean stress score was recorded as 52.3 ± 7.3, with the range of 36.0-70.0. No correlation (r = 0.015) was observed between stress score of primary caregivers and duration after diagnosis of autism in these children. However, negative associations (r = -0.044) were seen between primary caregiver’s stress and child’s chronological age.Conclusion: The majority of primary caregivers indicated bearing a significant level of stress, especially in managing the child in earlier years after diagnosis. Appropriate education, counseling, and rehabilitation services may play an important role in reducing the anxiety and stress over time in caregivers as the child’s age increases.