Authors : Abeer Ahmad Subke, Adeel Ahmed Khan, Safinaz Abdullah Alharthi
DOI : 10.18231/j.jpmhh.2020.006
Volume : 6
Issue : 1
Year : 2020
Page No : 27-36
Background: Nurturing a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can cause major distress. As a
result, these parents tend to experience a poor quality of life (QoL) compared to those raising typically
developing (TD) children.
Objectives: To evaluate the factors which affect the QoL of parents raising children clinically-diagnosed
with ASD in Jeddah, and to provide knowledge for the establishment of comprehensive policies and
projects that can improve their mental well-being.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study design was utilized to assess 200 parents of children
clinically-diagnosed with ASD at least 3 months prior to the research. A self-administered WHOQOLBREF
questionnaire was employed to assess the QoL of participants through four domains, namely physical
health, psychological well-being, social relationships, and environment.
Results: Most of the participants were female (58.5%), married (87.0%), and employed (56.5%). Majority
completed high school (68.5%), lived in the city (95.5%) and rented their homes (88.5%). Quality of life
was significantly affected by gender, employment, social status, and educational attainment of participants.
Parents with higher educational attainment and employment and social status exhibited better. Furthermore,
female parents experienced lower QoL and more depressive symptoms than males.
Conclusion: Gender, educational attainment, and both employment and social status significantly affected
the QoL of parents raising children diagnosed with ASD. Furthermore, improving the physical health,
psychological, social relationships, and environment of these parents would give them a better QoL and
health satisfaction.
Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder, Quality of life, Parents, Physical health, Psychological, Social relationships, Environment, Jeddah.