Emotional Intelligence As a Moderator of Distress in Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Background:

Previous research suggests that parenting a child with ASD is typically associated with considerable distress, particularly for mothers, though research on this topic often does not include fathers.  Interestingly, research also suggests that some families with a child with ASD do not report increased levels of distress and, further, some research reports positive outcomes.  Prior research has explored the impact of child characteristics (e.g., severity of disability), the presence of formal and informal social supports, as well as the influence of parent and family characteristics (e.g., financial resources, coping) on outcome.  However, to date, research has not examined the influence of emotional intelligence (EI) on parent outcome.  EI refers to the ability to perceive, understand, and manage emotions. 

Objectives:

The purpose of the current study was to: 1) examine the EI profiles of mothers and fathers of children with ASD, with a particular focus on which aspects of EI relate to mothers’ and fathers’ positive and negative outcomes; 2) document the relationship between child-related stressors (age, gender, and child difficulty), and mothers’ and fathers’ positive and negative outcomes; and 3) investigate whether EI moderates the relationship between child as stressor and these positive and negative outcomes. 

Methods:  

This project is part of a larger study examining family functioning in families with a child with ASD (Diamond, 2004).  One aspect of the larger study involved parents completing questionnaires related to parental distress, positive and negative impacts on family functioning, positive change, and emotional intelligence.  Participants were 51 couples raising children with ASD, aged 2 to21.

Results:  

Each of the five EI factor scores (Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, Stress Management, Adaptation, and General Mood) were negatively correlated with both mothers’ and fathers’ ratings of parental distress.  Thus, parents with higher EI scores, reflecting greater emotional self-awareness, interpersonal relationships, stress tolerance, problem solving, and happiness, indicate less distress.  Two EI factor scores (Intrapersonal and General Mood) were positively correlated with mothers’ ratings of positive change, but there were no significant correlations between any of the five EI factor scores and fathers’ ratings of positive change.  As well, mothers’ and fathers’ ratings of their child as difficult were positively correlated with their ratings of distress.  Thus, the greater parents’ perception of their child’s difficulty, the greater their reports of distress.  Analysis related to EI as a moderator of distress is underway.

Conclusions:  

Findings are consistent with research that shows that parents of children with ASD report negative as well as positive outcomes as a result of raising a child with ASD and, further, that their EI is related to these outcomes.  These findings have important implications for parents and clinicians.  Understanding what factors assist parents of children with ASD in achieving more positive outcomes, while minimizing negative outcomes, may prove helpful particularly when those factors may be, like EI, amenable to intervention.