STIGMATIZATION, COPING STRATEGIES AND DEPRESSION AMONG PARENTS OF AUTISTIC CHILDREN

Abstract

This study investigated stigmatization and coping strategies as predictors of depression among parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in South-East Nigeria. Using the purposive sampling technique, a total of 138 parents with autistic children comprising 69 females and 69 males were drawn from institutions of learning for autistic children across the five states of South-East, Nigeria. Stigmatization Impact Scale (SIS) (Okafor, 2019), Health and Daily Living Form: Adult Form B(HDL-AFB)(Moos, Cronkite and Finney (1990), and Radloff's epidemiological studies depression scale (CES-D) Radloff (1977), were used to collect the data. The design was cross-sectional design while descriptive statistics correlation and hierarchical multiple regression were used for analysis. The results revealed that stigmatization predicted depression among parents of children with ASD (β = .50, t = 8.37, p < .05). Also, parenting an autistic child predicted depression (β =.17 t=.2, 20 p<.05) and coping strategy (avoidance coping) positively predicted depression (β =.50, t =4.9 p< .05) among parents with autistic children in South-East Nigeria. The results were discussed with relevant literature and it was recommended that stigmatization and avoidance coping should be avoided to forestall depression among parents with autistic children. Limitations and suggestions for further studies were highlighted