Psychological Well-Being In Fathers of Adolescents and Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders, Down Syndrome, and Fragile X Syndrome

Background: Despite decades of research on family adaptation in the context of having a child with a developmental disability, the psychological well-being of fathers remains poorly understood. There is considerable evidence that the challenges that mothers face and their psychological well-being varies by the child’s diagnosis. The nature of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has been shown to be particularly challenging both early on and during later parenting years; mothers of children and adults with an ASD report higher levels of stress (Herring et al., 2006) and increased depressive symptoms (Abbeduto et al., 2004; Dumas et al., 1991) as compared to mothers of children and adults with other disabilities. Little is known about whether the nature of ASD is also uniquely challenging for fathers.

Objectives: We compared the psychological well-being of fathers of adolescents and young adults with an ASD, Down syndrome (DS), and fragile X syndrome (FXS). We also identified factors that account for diagnostic-related variation in paternal psychological well-being.

Methods: One-way analyses of covariance were used to compare self-reported ratings of depressive symptoms, pessimism, and coping in fathers of adolescents and young adults with an ASD (n = 135), DS (n = 59), and FXS (n = 46), and (n = 135). Hierarchical linear regressions were used to examine the extent to which four factors (paternal age, child behavior problems, presence of additional children with a disability, and maternal depressive symptoms) contributed to diagnostic-related differences in paternal psychological well-being.

Results: Whereas 30.4% of fathers of adolescents and young adults with an ASD reported depressive symptoms warranting clinical attention, 15.9% of fathers of adolescents and young adults with FXS, and only 6.8% of fathers of adolescents and young adults with DS had a clinically significant level of depressive symptoms. Fathers of adolescents and young adults with DS reported a lower level of pessimism than fathers of adolescents and young adults with an ASD or FXS. There were no diagnostic differences in paternal coping. The ‘ASD disadvantage’ in terms of heightened depressive symptoms as compared to both the DS and FXS groups was, at least in part, related to the child’s heightened number of behavior problems, increased risk of having additional children with a disability, and increased maternal depressive symptoms.

Conclusions: Results confirm that fathers, like mothers, are affected by child-related stress and the nature of their son or daughter’s disability. The influence of child-related stress on paternal well-being is not confined to the early parenting years, but is evident in the son or daughter’s adolescence and young adulthood. Results can start to inform practitioners and health providers about the experiences of fathers, and suggest that fathers of adolescents and young adults with an ASD are particularly in need of services.