Autism spectrum disorder and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. Part I: A comparison of parenting stress

BACKGROUND: There is a long history of research on parents of children with disabilities, but to the authors' knowledge, no study has compared the stress of parents of children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) to parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). METHOD: Twenty-five parents of children with ASD and 25 parents of children with FASD completed the Parenting Stress Index - Short Form (PSI-SF) and the Questionnaire on Resources and Stress - Friedrich's Version (QRS-F). RESULTS: Although both parent groups reported elevated stress, PSI-SF results indicated that parents of children with FASD were experiencing significantly more stress compared to parents of children with ASD. No significant differences were found between groups on the total QRS-F, but parents of children with FASD had higher scores on the Pessimism subscale. CONCLUSIONS: The authors call for measures grounded in theory as well as mixed methods research that includes the subjective experience of parents' stress.