Religiousness/Spirituality and Well-being in Parents of Autistic Children

Abstract

Parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder often experience worse mental health and well-being compared to parents of typically-developing children and children with other developmental disabilities (Lai et al., 2015; Blacher & Baker, 2019; Bourke-Taylor et al., 2012; Griffith et al., 2010). This study explores predictors of mental health and well-being in this context, adding to the emerging body of literature on the influence of religiousness and spirituality (R/S; Chu et al., 2020; Kheir et al., 2012; Schertz et al., 2016). This study examines four R/S elements: daily spiritual experiences, private religious/spiritual practices, religious/spiritual community support, and organizational religiousness. Study participants were recruited through Prolific.co, an online research platform. 178 participants answered the full study survey via the University of Minnesota Qualtrics site. All participants live in the United States, are 18 years or older and the parent of at least one child (age 6-18 years old) with an Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis, and are fluent English speakers. Daily spiritual experiences emerged as a significant predictor for depression, anxiety, meaning in life, and satisfaction with life. However, contrary to my hypotheses, after accounting for covariates, private R/S practices, religious/spiritual community support, and organizational religiousness did not significantly predict mental health or well-being. Notably, religious/spiritual community support and organizational religiousness moderated the impact of private religious/spiritual practices and daily spiritual experiences on some mental health and well-being variables. The moderation effects of organizational religiousness and religious/spiritual community support on the relationships between multiple R/S and mental health & well-being variables suggests possible implications for practice in using public R/S-based interventions to support the mental health and well-being of parents of autistic children.