Parental Influences on Children's Adjustment

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Hello Everyone!

My name is Kelly Pisapia, and I am a graduate student at Rhode Island College. I am currently working on a research study, under the guidance of Dr. Emily Cook and Dr. Paul LaCava, and am trying to recruit parents of children ages 3-17 diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to be a part of my project.

My project is interested in examining how parents influence their child’s overall well being. Should parents chose to participate they will be asked to complete a 30 minute online survey that assesses parenting styles, severity of child’s symptoms, and quality of life of the child (e.g., how the child is adjusting). See link for study flyer:

http://i.imgur.com/Y4j56Ky.png?1

Once completed the participant will be asked if they would be interested in entering for a chance to win up to $100 in the form of an Amazon eGiftcard. The survey is available via the link below:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ASDQOL

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact me at any time.

If you know anybody else who may also find this information useful, feel free to pass on this information to them as well!

Thank you so much for your time. I truly appreciate it.

Kelly Pisapia
kpisapia_6016@email.ric.edu

Rhode Island College

I started to take this survey, but every three or four questions there was one like "I spank my child" or "I shake my child". It felt like the hypothesis is that parents of children with ASD are abusive, or that the author is trying to see if that's the case. It felt insulting, so I quit.

quote: Also, if you become upset and would like to talk with someone about these feelings you can go to the Autism Speaks website where local services and supports are provided in all states across the country. http://www.autismspeaks.org/family-serv ... urce-guide

Traven, I'm not sure why you quoted that. If it's because you think I'm upset, I'm not.
If it's because the OP is posting on WP but referring people to Autism Speaks (a site a lot of people here dislike) then I understand what you mean.

This sounds like a pretty insulting survey, with some offensive premises. I am actually surprised this is associated with Autism Speaks because I thought they were mostly about portraying parents as martyrs.

There was a wide range of available responses regarding response to misbehavior, ranging from corporal punishment to love withdrawal to problem solving. Some parents believe in spanking their kids, some do not. Some believe in ignoring your kid if they do something you do not like, some do not. I think it was rather straightforward in offering a variety of options.

I can't figure out how the results are going to be analyzed, however. Other than specifying the child's actual diagnosis and estimating IQ, I don't know how you would parcel out those adjustment "issues" that are germane to the child's autism/impairments and those that are related to parenting choices. It could just be, however, that when I think of a study, I imagine how I would design it, and then I get stuck in my own design.

First off, I want to thank you for taking the time to read my post and respond to my questionnaire (if only partially)

Yippy Skippy, I am sorry that you felt insulted. This was not my intention at all, nor was it my intention that parents of children with ASD are abusive. When doing research it is important to cover a wide range of behaviors to make sure you can accurately portray the information.




I believe that InThisTogether did a great job of explaining the reasons behind trying to cover a wide range of behaviors. Although not all parents act this way, there are some who believe their parenting behaviors are the best options that they have.

Also, to address:


InThisTogether, thank you for your reply. Also, although I can not go into too much detail about analyzing my data, I can say that the questions that I am using have been used in the past for similar studies.

I hope this helps answer some questions/concerns that you have.

Also, I understand that a lot of people in this community do not like Autism Speaks as an organization. However, my intent was not to push any of their information onto anyone but to rather provide a list of resources that are available (in each state) that anybody can access. Autism Speaks happens to have a well organized structure for listing organizations by state that I thought would be user-friendly.

I was going to look at this, but was put off as soon as I looked at the flyer image.

Dual parents? "This study is seeking both parents..."

I would be happy to answer, but I can't volunteer my wife's time and she has no patience with this kind of thing.

I imagine this would be an impediment for a number of potential participants.

I took it without my husband's input. In the very last section it says something along the lines of IF the other parent filled this out, include their name.

I didn't look at the flyer first. And I didn't really read the consent-type pages, so either I shouldn't have done it, or you can too

I have to think about whether to look at it. It's frustrating, though, not that asking the question is wrong, rather it's that there are two things I can point to as making a difference for my daughter: finding what she's good at and doing it, and people listening to her. So simple, so normal, so.....typical.

How ironic if it's found that what parents do that influences children's adjustment isn't any different for children with ASD and more typical children!

This is perfectly okay! I would love to have both parents complete the survey separately if they are able to, but I understand this is very difficult for many reasons. That is whyI added the question at the end, just to have an idea of how many spouses were also filling the survey out.

Just wanted to thank everyone who participated, I very much appreciate your time. Any other new participants feel free to contact me if any questions arise. Thank you guys again you have been very helpful!

Can we see the results anywhere when you're done your analysis?

Yes, when I am done with my thesis defense I will be able to post a brief description of the results. This forum, and other forums that participated, will be the first notified. Again, thank you for everyone who participated. This research is extremely important to me and it means a lot that people spend the time to take the survey.

Hi everyone!

I wanted to thank everyone who participated in my survey, every parent that participates is helping my project greatly! It's great to be able to get so many different perspectives and stories on this topic.

I also wanted to let everyone know that this survey will be open for a couple of more days. I would be extremely grateful to anyone else who is able to complete this survey before my project is finished! Plus, you can enter your name to win a $50.00 eGiftcard!

I went ahead and pasted the survey information below for easier access! Thanks again, and if you would like to receive a copy of my finished project, or any of the results please email me at Kpisapia_6016@email.ric.edu

Flyer link: http://i.imgur.com/BWW3kyy.jpg?1
Survey link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ASDQOL