**2. The present study**

From the available data on comparison of parents of children with different conditions of development, it was reported that parents of children with ASD experience higher levels of challenges such as stress and general well-being problems compared to parents of typically developing children and parents of children with other developmental disabilities (i.e. intellectual disability, ADHD and cere-

The wealth of data has examined factors associated with adverse impacts on the general well-being of parents bringing up a child with ASD. Hastings and colleagues [8] have found that a positive linear relationship exists between the severity of the child's ASD symptoms and boosting mothers'stress level. From a literature review, it is concluded that a lack of social support as an important factor predicts maternal general well-being problems. These impacts can be in different ways; on the one hand, there are reports [9] on existing negative correlations between the level of parental stress and the degrees of available social support for mothers, and on the other hand, it is reported that some types of formal support might be considered as

As an example, professionals might place extra demands on parents to accomplish prescribed tasks with their children. These groups of parents are in contact with many different professionals and they can often be confused as to what each person's role and demand is in the care and rehabilitation and training their child [10, 11]. Consequently, interactions with professionals might prove to be stressful

employing a well-functioning coping style for the parents of children with ASD has been stressed by Sivberg [12] and has been replicated more recently by other professionals in the field of mental health and resilience [13]. Coping style is an action, a series of actions, or a thought process used in meeting a stressful or unpleasant situation or in modifying one's reaction to such a situation. Based on the American Psychological Association (APA) [14] online dictionary, coping style typically involves a conscious and direct approach to problems, in contrast to defence mechanisms. As an example of coping strategy, the parent might decide to be careful not to expect extra assistance in caregiving for his/her child with ASD and starting to adopt a consistent and mutually beneficial approach with the child with ASD, which is classified as a 'problem-focused' or positive coping strategy. While the wealth of findings supports the applicability of positive coping style and its correlation with better adjustment to different challenging situations such as caregiving for an offspring with chronic illnesses or disabilities [15], findings by Higgins and colleagues [16] revealed that such positive adopted coping style did not necessarily appear to be related to other family qualifications such as family functioning, marital quality, marital happiness and parental self-esteem. Their justification regarding this unexpected finding was that the particular stresses and coping style associated with caregiving for a child with ASD, or that the reality of living with a child with ASD was not facilitated by the adopted coping style employed by parents. Altiere and Kluge [17] found that parents who use positive coping styles tended to consider their family as a highly integrated and joined unit. This may mean that as the levels of cohesion increases among the family members, they tend to use more positive

Conversely, Dunn and colleagues [18] found that avoidant coping styles, such as distancing and escape, significantly correlated with depression in parents of children with ASD. Further research suggests that elevated stress levels, lack of social support, and ineffective coping styles are among the most dominant predicting factors of psychologically problematic outcomes among parents of children with ASD [19, 20]. Hence, there are reports on the positive side of caregiving for a child with ASD, and Hastings and Taunt [21] found that the positive perception of

as well as supportive experiences [10]. The importance of developing and

a stressor which forces parents to adopt negative coping styles.

*Parenting - Studies by an Ecocultural and Transactional Perspective*

coping strategies such as rational style.

**106**

bral palsy) [2, 6, 7].
