Specific styles of coping used by parents of children with autism disorders are positive reappraisal and escape-avoidance strategies (Dunn, 2001; Sivberg, 2002; Hastings et al., 2005).
Positive reappraisal might include increased religiosity (Hastings et al., 2005; Luther et al., 2005); reframing worldviews (Luther et al., 2005); growing as a person, rediscovering the important things in life, and being inspired to be creative (Dunn, 2001); balancing one’s attention between the child with autism and other children, being careful not to expect an excessive amount of help in caring for the child, taking a consistent and coordinated approach to the child, and being careful not to view the child as the sole source of strain within the family (Sivberg, 2002). Parents who adopted positive reappraisal strategies showed higher levels of wellbeing (Dunn, 2001, Sivberg, 2002, Hastings, 2002). Also confrontive coping, that include …show more content…
Other cognitive strategies used to reduce stress are locus of control, which refers to the extent to which parents believe they can control what is affecting them (Dunn, 2001), self-efficacy, which relates to the strength of one's belief in one's ability to complete tasks and reach goals (Hastings, 2002) and sense of coherence, which can