Parental Self-perception in the Autism Spectrum Disorder Literature: a Systematic Mixed Studies Review

Parental influence in child development in children with autism spectrum disorder is increasingly recognized as important. The primary aim of this systematic mixed method review was to systematically examine the psychological constructs of competence, control, and self-efficacy in the autism literature to assess their relevance for understanding self-perceptions of parents of children with autism. This review illustrates that self-efficacy can be merged into competence and the emergence of the coherence construct. Competence, control, and coherence are vitally important core concepts for understanding parents of children with autism. A unified nomenclature based upon the overarching concept of self-perception would organize the most pivotal constructs much more clearly and reduce redundancies. Specifically, the concept of “parental self-perception” is the most promising candidate for this superordinate concept.