A Comparative Study of Psychological Resilience, Caregiver Burden, Depressive Symptoms, and Perceived Social Support Among Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Intellectual Disability, and Typical Development

This study compared caregiver burden, depressive symptoms, psychological resilience, and perceived social support among mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), intellectual disability (ID), and typically developing (TD) children. The sample consisted of 131 mothers of children aged 2–12 years (ASD: n=59; ID: n=29; TD: n=43). Participants completed the Zarit Caregiver Burden Scale (ZBI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Adult Resilience Measure (ARM), and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). ZBI total scores did not differ significantly across groups (p=0.407). BDI scores differed significantly (p=0.004), with higher depressive symptoms in the ASD group than in the ID and TD groups. ARM total scores differed significantly across groups (p=0.006), with higher resilience in the TD group than in the ASD group, while differences involving the ID group were not consistently significant. MSPSS total scores were significantly higher in the TD group than in both ASD and ID groups (p<0.001), with no difference between ASD and ID. In the ASD group, BDI correlated positively with ZBI (r=0.503; p<0.001) and negatively with ARM (r=−0.443; p<0.001) and MSPSS (r=−0.329; p=0.011). In the ID group, BDI correlated with ZBI (r=0.380; p=0.042) and ARM (r=0.462; p=0.012), but not with MSPSS. The findings indicate vulnerability across both clinical groups, particularly among mothers of children with ASD, underscoring the need to prioritize protective psychosocial interventions.