SLPCohortJournal of autism and developmental disorders2025

Factors Influencing Despair, Self-blame, and Acceptance Among Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): A Malaysian Perspective.

Muhammad Hanif Abd Latif, Wan Salwina Wan Ismail, Mohd Rizal Abdul Manaf and 1 others

PMID 37987948

WHAT IT FOUND

Parents with higher education and children in school reported less despair.

Chinese ethnicity linked to more self-blame and less acceptance. Parents with medical illness and children on antipsychotics reported more despair and self-blame. Married parents had higher acceptance. Cross-sectional design limits causal claims.

Key findings

01Higher parental education and children attending school were associated with lower parental despair.

02Chinese ethnicity was associated with higher parental self-blame and lower parental acceptance.

03Parents with medical illness and children taking antipsychotics reported higher levels of despair and self-blame.

STILL TO COME

How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs

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What it does not show

The study used non-probability convenience sampling from an urban university hospital, so results may not generalize to rural populations or those with less access to information. The cross-sectional design prevents establishing cause-and-effect relationships. The study did not analyze mothers and fathers separately due to limited numbers, missing potential gender differences in parental adjustment. Data relied on self-reported questionnaires, which are subject to recall bias. The regression models had low explanatory power, meaning many factors influencing parental adjustment were not captured.

Declared interests

No specific funding sources or conflicts of interest were reported in the provided text.

The easy way to misread this

Do not interpret these associations as causes. For example, do not assume that enrolling a child in school will directly reduce parental despair, or that prescribing antipsychotics causes parental self-blame. The study only shows that these factors occur together at one point in time.

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