Impact of Respite Care Services Availability on Stress, Anxiety and Depression in Military Parents who have a Child on the Autism Spectrum.
Rebecca A Christi, Daniel Roy, Raywin Heung and 1 others
PMID 36030352WHAT IT FOUND
Military parents who had respite care reported lower stress and anxiety/depression scores than those without, after adjusting for family factors.
This was a small survey, so it suggests an association, not proof respite care causes improvement.
Key findings
01Families who reported respite care services in the home had lower anxiety/depression and perceived stress scores after adjustment for selected family factors.
02Only 27 of the 119 families reported respite care services in the home.
03A parent's own history of anxiety or depression was the largest contributor to higher anxiety/depression and stress scores.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The study was a small pilot with no sample size calculation, so it cannot establish how respite care works in the wider military parent population. It surveyed parents at one point in time rather than assigning respite care, so lower scores may reflect other differences between families who have respite care and those who do not. Only 119 of an estimated 600 eligible families responded, a 19.8% response rate, so non-responders may have been different. Many families were reached through program navigators, and parents who actively sought navigator help may have had higher stress or anxiety at baseline. The survey was anonymous and not piloted, and medical records were not reviewed, so responses could have been affected by recall, reporting, or unclear questions. Autism severity was missing or unknown for 34 of 119 parents, so that factor could not be fully analysed. Some association tests were unstable because several groups had small numbers. Data collection overlapped with the COVID-19 pandemic, which may have affected caregiver stress, anxiety, and depression.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that respite care causes lower stress, anxiety, or depression. The study only compared parents who already reported respite care with parents who did not, and it did not assign respite care to families.