title: Quality of life: a key variable to consider in the evaluation of adjustment in parents of children with autism spectrum disorders and in the development of relevant support and assistance programmes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Our primary objective was to identify cognitive and behavioural profiles that affect adjustment, in order to make relevant recommendations about support and assistance for parents of autistic children.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and sixty French parents completed a battery of questionnaires and self-report measures developed or adapted to assess (1) the child and family situations; (2) perceived stress; (3) perceived social support; (4) perceived control; (5) coping strategies; and (6) quality of life.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The psychometric properties of the instruments we used proved to be adequate. Our results support the pre-existing data and our findings may prove to be of interest to clinicians. Our primary finding was that emotion-focused coping strategies seem to be less effective. Parents who employed emotion-focused strategies were more stressed and more disturbed in most parts of their life. They also experienced more guilt and reported more false beliefs about PDD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data underscore the need for psychoeducation programmes for parents, focused on handling stress and emotions, modifying false beliefs and solving the daily problems that arise from PDD. We propose a 5-axis intervention model for parents of children with PDD, based on cognitive-behavioural therapies and on a stress management programme.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Psychopathologie et Processus de Santé, Institut de Psychologie, Université Paris Descartes, 71, avenue Édouard Vaillant, 92100, Boulogne-Billancourt, France. emilie.cappe@gmail.com
authors.forename: Emilie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cappe
authors.forename: Marion
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wolff
authors.forename: René
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bobet
authors.forename: Jean-Louis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Adrien
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006167:Guilt; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult