Predictors of School Satisfaction in Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Background:  Children with developmental disabilities (DD), including autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disability (ID), are entitled to public schooling with appropriate supports (Brown & Percy, 2007). However, little Canadian research has examined parents’ satisfaction (or frustration) with the services their children receive in the school system. Research suggests that parents of children with ASD are more likely to report difficulty accessing appropriate services for their child and report more dissatisfaction with their child’s care than parents of children with other DD (Vohra et al., 2014). Further, research on individuals with DD, with and without ASD, generally focuses on individuals with milder impairment while children with severe DD are often excluded.

Objectives:  The present study (1) compared school satisfaction between parents of children with DD, with and without ASD, and parents of typically developing (TD) children; and (2) examined factors that may be predictive of school satisfaction in parents of children with ASD.

Methods:  This study is part of the larger GO4KIDDS project (Great Outcomes for Kids Impacted by Severe Developmental Disabilities) looking at the health, well-being, and social inclusion of children with severe DD. Parents of 417 children with severe DD, with and without ASD, and 210 TD children completed online or paper surveys. Groups were similar in age (4 to 20 years) and sex (69% male). Analysis for Question 2 was conducted with a subsample of the ASD group who had completed additional survey questions (n = 107; M_age = 10.51; 87% male).

Results:  Question 1. Results of an independent t-test revealed that the overall level of school satisfaction (rated on a 5-point scale) in the DD group (N= 398, M= 3.31, SD= 1.19) was significantly lower than that of the TD group (N= 210, M= 3.92, SD= .84), t(558)= 7.34, p<.001, Cohen's d=.59. However, within the DD group, there were no differences in school satisfaction between parents of children with ASD and parents of children with other DD.

Question 2. For the ASD group only, a hierarchical multiple regression was conducted with the mean of a 9-item measure of school satisfaction as the dependent variable. Parent Positive Outlook was entered at Step 1 to control for the potential effect of parent optimism and method variance. Child variables (e.g., adaptive skills and maladaptive behaviour) were entered at Step 2, parent variables (e.g., parent mental health) at Step 3, contextual variables (e.g., SES) at Step 4, and school services (e.g., SLP) and type of school placement (e.g., special education class) at Step 5. The final model accounted for 23.5% of the variance in school satisfaction, with significant coefficients for child’s Adaptive Behaviour and Parent Positive Outlook. Further analyses regarding different types of school programs will also be included on the poster, as well as illustrative parent comments.

Conclusions:  Results of this study have implications for school-based interventions for children with ASD, particularly those who have limited adaptive skills. These results also point to the need for better communication with, and support for, parents.