Factors Affecting Marital Satisfaction Among Parents of Autism Spectrum Disorder Children: A Systematic Review

The family is the only natural, irreplaceable, and eternal institution of human beings, established by a sacred marriage covenant between a man and a woman. Children are a gift and trust for the family. Every family may face many challenges in their lifetime. One of these challenges is the birth of a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). For parents, the challenges of caring for a child with ASD may affect their relationship with their spouse and reduce marital satisfaction. According to research findings, marital satisfaction can be a protective factor for families and help them to cope with the challenges of raising a child with ASD. In addition, marital satisfaction has been shown to affect children's health. This study investigated the factors influencing marital satisfaction in parents with ASD children.

The present study was a systematic review, and its approach was based on collecting, classifying, and summarizing the findings of scientific–research articles related to marital satisfaction in families with ASD children, which were taken from internal and external databases during 1980–2021. For this purpose, the "satisfaction," "marriage," and "child with autism spectrum disorder" keywords were considered. Internal databases included SIDs, and external databases included CINAHL, PsycINFO, Scopus, Medline, Embase, Informit, ProQuest, Sage Journals, AMED, PubMed, OT Seeker, and Google Scholar. The search was conducted in English with the above keywords. Eighty–seven articles were selected in the initial search, but 54 were deleted due to their inconsistency with the ASD subject. Subsequently, 3 articles were deleted due to duplication in several databases, and 7 articles due to review. Finally, 22 articles were selected. The inclusion criteria included studies with the keywords searched directly for marital satisfaction in parents of children with ASD and original articles published in English in prestigious journals from 1980 to 1921. The exclusion criteria were articles that could not be accessed in full, as well as articles that were reviewed.

In the present study, according to a review of 22 studies conducted in the field of children with ASD and their families during 32 years of research and study in this field, it was concluded that a total of 8 groups of components affecting marital satisfaction in the parents of ASD children. We collected and analyzed these components and examined them in 8 groups: 1) child characteristics such as age, gender, and cognitive function, 2) severity of autism spectrum symptoms, 3) challenging behaviors, 4) sociodemographic and family characteristics, 5) parent characteristics such as age and gender, 6) parental stress and psychological well–being, 7) parental personality, resources cognitive and coping strategies, and 8) strategies to maintain marital satisfaction.

Based on the general findings of this systematic review, couples with children with ASD are less likely to have marital satisfaction compared to couples with children without disabilities; Therefore, couples with children with ASD need social support to maintain the satisfaction of their marriage.