Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The study examined the impact of the “big 5” personality traits on caregiver burden during the period when individuals with ASD transition from high school. Participants (N = 117) were caregivers of individuals with ASD who either will graduate within two years or graduated from high school within the past two years. Participants completed questionnaires measuring study variables predicted to be associated with caregiver burden as guided by the Double ABCX model of family adaptation, i.e., autism symptom severity, problem behaviors, pile-up of life demands, personality traits, social support, cognitive appraisals, and coping strategies. Primary caregivers reported moderate burden in the transition period. Specifically, although caregivers experienced stress in the transition period, they were less overwhelmed than the period when one’s child first receive the ASD diagnosis. Increased problem behaviors, higher neuroticism, lower extraversion, conscientiousness, and agreeableness, lower levels of social support, fewer use of challenge appraisals, and greater use of threat appraisals and passive-avoidance coping strategies predicted greater caregiver burden. Passive-avoidance coping mediated the relationship between caregiving stress and four personality traits respectively (i.e., neuroticism, extraversion, conscientiousness, and agreeableness). The results support the potential importance of personality traits in explaining differences in caregiver stress in families of those with ASD and further indicated that the association between personality and burden was mediated by caregivers’ use of maladaptive coping strategies, i.e., passive-avoidance coping. The findings also have potential applicability for interventions to reduce caregiver burden. Several factors were identified that could help alleviate the stress. For example, parents should be encouraged to avoid using threat appraisals and passive-avoidance coping strategies. In addition, interventions could be developed to provide support or strategies to parents to handle child’s behavioral problems and thus reduce stress.

The after-high-school outcomes for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their families are less than desirable. The current study employed an exploratory sequential mixed methods design in order to enhance understanding of the family adaptation process during transition. First, a qualitative study was conducted in order to understand the stressors, external and internal support, coping strategies, and family adaptation outcomes during transition, from a parent’s perspective, using the ABCX model. Thirteen parents of adolescents and young adults with ASD were interviewed. These parents reported a continually high level of stress due to normative strains and ASD-related demands. They clearly described the tangible, emotional, informational, and internal resources both received and needed. Parents, as active agents in their children’s lives, have their own views towards transition, philosophy, and ways of coping. Even though many of them reported negative experiences, these parents also found new meanings and happiness in their lives. Based on the literature review and the qualitative results, a quantitative study was then developed, which applied the ABCX model to understand the predictors of good parent transition outcomes and investigate the mediating mechanism between stressors and parent transition outcomes. At the indicator level, autism severity, mental health crisis/challenging behaviors, filial obligation, general social support, transition planning quality, parent-teacher alliance, parenting efficacy, problem-focused coping, avoidance-focused coping, and optimism were important predictors of the four benchmarks of parents’ outcomes (i.e., parents’ burden, parents’ transition experience, parents’ subjective health, and family quality of life). At the structural level, optimism, emotion-coping strategies, and resources mediated the relationships between stressors and parents’ outcomes. Research and practical applications are discussed. Findings across the two studies led to identification of key factors that influence the outcomes of parents of adolescents and young adults with ASD, as well as an understanding of the complex relationships among the predictors. The results build upon existing empirical and theoretical work related to the transition of families of adolescents and young adults with ASD. Recommendations for future research and clinical practices are discussed.

Losing a spouse is as devastating an experience anyone will ever deal with in his or her life. Research, however, shows that men have a harder and longer time coping with the loss of a spouse than women. When the widower’s profession is farming, there are no resources to specifically help that individual with their loss. The purpose of this research was to gain insight into the lives of widowed farmers with particular focus on transitions in their farming operation and their family life. Through their stories, we learn what is happening before the loss of the female spouse on the farm, during the bereavement period, and how the farmer handles the situation after the bereavement period has ended. Findings indicate that the Cooperative Extension Service can play a major role in supporting our widowed farmers as they seek a new normal for their farm operation and family life. Also, farming widowers have more stress following the loss of a spouse due to the added aspect of managing the farm and the home simultaneously after the passing of their spouse. Recommendations include further expanding spousal bereavement materials to include a section for males and in particular farming widowers.