Autism, Mothers and Quality of Life: Dissertation Defense
<p> </p> <pre style="word-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap; "> </pre> <pre style="word-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap; "> <strong>Dissertation Defense</strong> Factors Associated with Quality of Life Among Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders Marian Marconyak The increasing prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) has brought&nbsp;associated effects upon the quality of life (QOL) of mothers of children with ASDs.&nbsp;These mothers are subject to both negative and positive effects upon their lives in their&nbsp;role as caregivers to these special children. The purpose of this study was to assess the&nbsp;QOL among mothers of children with ASDs and the relationship between the World&nbsp;Health Organization International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health&nbsp;(ICF) framework components (Body Functions and Structures, Activities, Participation,&nbsp;Environmental, and Personal Factors), or independent variables, and QOL of the mothers.&nbsp;The WHO Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) provided the Physical,&nbsp;Psychological, Social Relationship, Environmental, and Total QOL scores.&nbsp;Mothers were recruited through internet sites and completed a web based&nbsp;questionnaire consisting of 65 questions. A sample size of 149 mothers, 46% between&nbsp;the ages of 35-44 years, completed the questionnaires. The average age of the children&nbsp;was 11.52 (SD 7.56) years. Linear regression analysis was performed on the individual&nbsp;variable relationships with each QOL score. The highest number of individual variables&nbsp;predicting QOL was found in the ICF Body Structures and Functions and Participation&nbsp;components. Multiple regression analysis was used to develop models to describe the&nbsp;various ICF component relationships with the QOL scores. The full models developed&nbsp;by using All Significant ICF Components predicted over 30% of the variance in four&nbsp;models for the Physical, Psychological, Environmental, and Total QOL scores. Trends&nbsp;were noted in significant individual factors associated with a decrease in QOL domain&nbsp;scores including the mother&rsquo;s comorbid conditions of arthritis, pain, and diabetes.&nbsp;Significant factors associated with higher of QOL domain scores included income, sleep&nbsp;hours of the mother and the child, and information sources. Dissertation Chair: Dr. Gianluca De Leo Dissertation Committee: Dr. Linda Bennington, Dr. Cindy Little <strong>College of Health Sciences Room 3014 March 12, 2014</strong></pre> <body id="cke_pastebin" style="position: absolute; top: 12px; width: 1px; height: 1px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; left: -1000px; "> </body>
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Posted By: Gianluca de Leo
Date: Mon Mar 10 11:23:21 EDT 2014