Predictors of posttraumatic growth in 475 Chinese parents of children newly diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.

Objective: To examine the predictive effects of children's symptom severity, rumination, parental self-efficacy, and social support on posttraumatic growth (PTG) in parents of autistic children.

Methods: Parents (n = 475) completed the demographic questionnaire, Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, Autism Behavior Checklist, Event Related Rumination Inventory, Parenting Sense of Competence, and Social Support Rating Scale in a cross-sectional survey conducted in a tertiary hospital in Guangzhou, China, between September 2019 and January 2021. Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted using SPSS version 25.0.

Results: The PTG score was positively associated with rumination (r = 0.325, P < 0.05), parental self-efficacy (r = 0.219, P < 0.05), and social support (r = 0.374, P < 0.05). Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that household income (β = 0.095, P < 0.05), intrusive rumination (β = -0.100, P < 0.05), deliberate rumination (β = 0.391, P < 0.001), subjective support (β = 0.239, P < 0.001), and children's daily living skills deficiencies as perceived by parents (β = 0.107, P < 0.05) significantly predicted PTG, accounting for 33.3% of the variance [F(P) = 13.444, P < 0.001].

Conclusions: Psychosocial factors (rumination and subjective support) are essential to facilitate PTG in parents whose children are newly diagnosed with autism. With the consideration of different sociodemographic features, clinicians and researchers are encouraged to explore cognitive-based psychosocial interventions targeting parents' psychological growth and parenting training programs targeting autistic children's self-care ability.