Silver Linings: Optimism and Positivity As Buffers of Stress and Lower Well-Being in Mothers of Adolescents with ASD

Background:  

There is considerable evidence that dispositional optimism is beneficial to one’s health (Carver et al., 2010; Peterson, 2000) and helps maintain positive parenting and a positive outlook during adverse times (Taylor et al., 2010). Specific to mothers of children with ASD or disabilities, maternal optimism relates to increased positive affect, decreased negative affect, and more adaptive coping strategies (Blacher et al., 2013). However, little is known about how maternal optimism buffers the increased stress and lower sense of well-being experienced by mothers of adolescents with ASD and/or a mental disorder.

Objectives:  

This paper explores the role of optimism and positive perceptions in mothers of teens: (1) Do mothers’ optimism and/or positive perceptions relate to disability status (ASD, intellectual disability (ID) and typical development (TD)? (2) Do optimism and/or positivity buffer the increased stress and psychological difficulties experienced by mothers of youth presenting varying levels of risk?

Methods:  

This research is drawn from the Collaborative Family Study, a 15-year longitudinal study of mental disorders in children with or without ID/ASD.  We report findings from the age 13 assessments; the sample (N=195) contains youth with TD (IQ >84, n=100), ID (IQ <85, n=40), and ASD (n=58). The primary measure of behavior problems/mental disorders was the Child Behavior Checklist. Measures included the Family Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) Positive and Negative sub-scales; Symptom Checklist (SCL-36); and Life Orientation Test (LOT). A three-level risk index was determined from the presence of (a) ID and/or ASD, and (b) disruptive behavior diagnoses ADHD and/or ODD.  Risk = 0/low (Neither a nor b); 1 (either a or b), or 2/high (both a and b).

Results:  

Q1. While dispositional optimism is supposed to be independent of what life offers up, here, mothers’ optimism was modestly (but significantly, p=.04) related to group status, even controlling for SES (TD>ID>ASD).  On the other hand, perceived positive impact of the child on the family did not differ significantly by diagnostic group. Moreover, the presence or absence of co-morbid ADHD or ODD was not related to dispositional optimism.  Q2. To study the personality trait of dispositional optimism as a buffer of the relationships between child challenges and maternal well-being, we divided optimism scores into high (optimistic), medium, and low (pessimistic) thirds.  The figure (one example) illustrates that psychological symptoms increased dramatically with increasing child risk, but also were higher for mothers with lower optimism, especially at the high-risk levels.  Optimism did not make a difference for at “low-risk” mothers, but at “high-risk” mothers with low optimism (pessimism) reported a greater than 2.5 times increase in psychological symptoms.  Similar analyses with other well-being measures will be considered.

Conclusions:  

Child disability status and child behavior problems/mental disorders take a psychological toll on mothers. However, the personality trait of dispositional optimism buffers these (child risk - parent adjustment) relationships. Perceived positive impact of the child has a similar buffering effect.  In short, not all parents are impacted similarly by youth disability and/or problem behaviors. There is a silver lining for those who maintain more positive perceptions.