title: Daily Couple Experiences and Parent Affect in Families of Children with Versus Without Autism.
abstract: We examined daily couple experiences in 174 couples who had a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) relative to 179 couples who had a child without disabilities and their same-day association with parent affect. Parents completed a 14-day daily diary in which they reported time with partner, partner support, partner closeness, and positive and negative couple interactions and level of positive and negative affect. One-way multivariate analyses of covariance and dyadic multilevel models were conducted. Parents of children with ASD reported less time with partner, lower partner closeness, and fewer positive couple interactions than the comparison group. Daily couple experiences were more strongly associated with parent affect in the ASD than comparison group. Findings have implications for programs and supports.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Development and Family Studies and Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 4101 Nancy Nicholas Hall, 1300 Linden Ave, Madison, WI, 53706, USA. slhartley@wisc.edu.
authors.forename: Sigan L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Hartley
authors.affiliation: Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
authors.forename: Leann Smith
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: DaWalt
authors.affiliation: Department of Educational Psychology and Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
authors.forename: Haley M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Schultz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records; D008875:Middle Aged; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Autism; Couple; Daily Diary; Marital; Parent