Structural Relationships of Fathers’ Involvement and Parenting Stress of Mothers of Autistic Children with the Mediation of Family Functioning, Social Support, and Resilience

Considering the specific characteristics of autism spectrum disorder, parents (especially mothers) are under a lot of pressure. It is important to identify the factors which help reduce this pressure. Therefore, the present study examined the structural relationships of fathers’ involvement and mothers’ parenting stress with the mediating role of family functioning, resilience, and social support in mothers of autistic children. The research method was descriptive-correlational and a structural equation model was used. Among the autism schools in Tehran, four schools were randomly selected and 276 volunteer mothers participated in the research study. They were asked to fill out Phetrasuwan and Miles’ (2009) Parenting Stress Scale: Autism, Olson et al.’s (1985) Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale, Conner and Davidson’s (2003) Resilience Scale, Zimmet et al.’s (1988) Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and Fathers’ Involvement Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using Smart PLS software (version 3.2). The results indicated that fathers’ involvement and resilience had a direct negative effect on mothers’ parenting stress. In addition, fathers’ involvement had an indirect effect on mothers’ parenting stress through the mediation of family functioning (p < 0.05). A significant relationship was also observed between family functioning and mothers’ resilience. According to the obtained results, it seems that fathers’ involvement as an external factor and resilience as an internal factor played a role in predicting parenting stress (p < 0.05). In addition, the adaptive functioning of the family could strengthen the role of fathers’ involvement in reducing mothers’ stress. The results can be used in predicting the parenting stress of mothers of autistic children.