Correlations of Physical and Psychological Health in Parents of Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Background: Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have social communication difficulties and restricted, repetitive, and/or sensory behaviors or interests. The prevalence of ASD is now 1 in 36 individuals. Parents of individuals with ASD face challenges that can affect their physical and p...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Western journal of nursing research 2024-07, Vol.46 (7), p.532-540
Main Authors: Johnson, Norah L., Bekhet, Abir K., Zint, Emily, Wang, June, Pena, Sylvia, Van Hecke, Amy, Garnier-Villarreal, Mauricio, Ng, Alexander
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Anxiety - psychology
Autism
Autism Spectrum Disorder - psychology
Body fat
Child
Cross-Sectional Studies
Exercise
Exercise - psychology
Female
Grip strength
Health status
Humans
Male
Mental Health
Middle Aged
Parental stress
Parents & parenting
Parents - psychology
Physical activity
Physical fitness
Psychological well being
Repetitive behaviour
Stress, Psychological - psychology
Surveys and Questionnaires
Well being
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Background: Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have social communication difficulties and restricted, repetitive, and/or sensory behaviors or interests. The prevalence of ASD is now 1 in 36 individuals. Parents of individuals with ASD face challenges that can affect their physical and psychological well-being. Objective: With the long-term goal to tailor an exercise program, the purpose of this study was 2-fold: (1) establish the baseline physical and mental health of parents of individuals with ASD and (2) estimate the relationship of physiologic variables with psychological variables of health for parents of individuals with ASD. Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional study (N = 44) explored physical health measures and the correlation between physical and psychological health, using measures of anxiety, stress, parenting depression, and positive thinking for parents who care for individuals with ASD. Results: The common characteristics that these parents shared was high body fat and low physical activity. Body fat was negatively correlated to total step count (r = −0.428, P 
ISSN:0193-9459
1552-8456
1552-8456
DOI:10.1177/01939459241253221