Saturday, May 22, 2010
Franklin Hall B Level 4 (Philadelphia Marriott Downtown)
8:00 AM
W. Huang
,
Regional Center of the East Bay, San Leandro, CA
D. DeLambo
,
Department of Rehabilitation and Counseling, University of Wisconsin at Stout, Menomonie, WI
W. Chung
,
Counseling Psychology Department, Eastern University, St. Davids, PA
D. Homa
,
Department of Rehabilitation and Counseling, University of Wisconsin at Stout, Menomonie, WI
Background: Little is known about ethnic differences in stress experienced by parents of children with autism.
Objectives:
This study examined parental stress differences between Asian American and non-Asian American parents of children with developmental disabilities (DD) including autism. Methods: Participants (N=48) were administered the Parental Stress Index and a demographic information survey.
Results: Both groups reported high stress levels. However, Asian American parents experienced a significantly higher level of stress that was related to children’s characteristics of disability than their non-Asian counterparts. Results also indicate that while the age of children with DD was negatively correlated with parental stress for non-Asian American parents, the age of parents was negatively correlated with parental stress for Asian American parents.
Conclusions: Implications of the findings for social service professionals are discussed.
