Factors Influencing Despair, Self-blame, and Acceptance Among Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): A Malaysian Perspective

PURPOSEAccepting and adapting to the child's diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can be challenging for parents. We aimed to assess domains of parental adjustment namely despair, self-blame, and acceptance among parents whose children were diagnosed with ASD.METHODSA cross-sectional study was conducted among 111 parents of children with autism who attended Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Unit (CAPU), in a university teaching hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Sociodemographic profiles of both parents and children were gathered. Parental adjustment focusing on parental self-blame, despair and acceptance were assessed using self-reported questionnaires namely Adjustment to the Diagnosis of Autism (ADA).RESULTSHigher level of despair was associated with parents who have medical illness (β = 0.214, p = 0.016) and children who received antipsychotic medications (β = 0.329, p