Stress and Positive Emotions among Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: a Daily Diary Study

Background: Raising a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is typically a challenging and stressful experience for mothers. As a result of these challenges, mothers report greater levels of negative psychological outcomes, including depression and negative affect. Previous research suggests that positive affect may serve as a moderator of the relationship between stress and negative outcomes.

Objectives: To investigate the relationship between daily stress and daily negative affect, using a daily diary methodology, among mothers of children with ASD. A second purpose is to explore the role of daily positive affect as a possible moderator of these relationships.

Methods: Participants consisted of 49 mothers with a child with ASD. Mothers completed the following questionnaires on a daily basis for 30 consecutive days: Positive and Negative Affect Scales (PANAS-PA; PANAS-NA), Daily Negative Life Events Scale, and Daily Autism-Related Stress Scale.

Results: Analyses revealed that daily negative affect was associated with daily life stress (r = .67, p < .001) and daily autism-related stress (r = .43, p < .01). In addition, daily positive affect was also associated with daily negative affect (r = -.27, p < .05). Simple linear regression analyses also found similar results. Results of moderation analyses found that the interaction of daily life stress and positive affect was significant (B = -.027, p < .05), but the autism-related stress and positive affect interaction was non-significant. Multilevel modeling using Hierarchical Linear Modeling software will be conducted to confirm these preliminary findings.

Conclusions: Findings confirm that daily stress predicts daily well-being among mothers of children with ASD. Specifically, higher levels of both life and autism-related stress predict higher levels of negative affect. Further, we also found that positive affect can help buffer the negative effects of stress. Mothers who report high levels of stress and high levels of positive affect have lower levels of negative affect as compared to those who report high levels of stress and low levels of positive affect. These findings suggest that incorporating positive experiences into daily living may be beneficial for families.