Parents of autistic children more likely to divorce

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Parents of autistic children more likely to divorce

The cumulative strain of bringing up a child with autism results in their

parents being more likely to divorce as their offspring gets older, a study

suggests.

While divorce rates tend to fall after children reach the age of eight, for

parents with an autistic child they do not.

The study compared the marital fates of 391 couples with adolescent and adult

children who have autism, to a sample drawn from another large longitudinal

study, the National Survey of Midlife in the United States.

It found no significant differences in divorce rates until the child reached

eight years of age.

After that, the divorce rate for parents of children without disabilities went

down but it remained high for parents of children with autism.

Sigan Hartley, assistant professor of human development and family studies at

University of Wisconsin-Madison's Waisman Centre, said: " There seems to be a

prolonged vulnerability for divorce in parents of children with autism.

" Typically, if couples can survive the early child-rearing years, parenting

demands decrease and there is often less strain on the marriage.

" However, parents of children with autism often continue to live with and

experience high parenting demands into their child's adulthood, and thus marital

strain may remain high in these later years. "

Results of the study, the first of its kind to track such relationships over

time, also contradicted previously held assumptions that parents with an

autistic child were more likely to split in the early years of parenting.

The majority of the 391 marriages also survived.

Autistic disorders vary considerably between individuals, but those who have it

find it difficult to tell people what they need, how they feel, find it

difficult to socialise and to understand what others are thinking, according to

the National Autistic Society.

Children with severe autism frequently require high levels of care, while as

adults they some continue to need the day-to-day support of their parents or

other carers.

Prof Hartley noted: " Few developmental disabilities appear to be more taxing on

parents and there is a great need for support services for families when the

child is an adolescent and adult.

" Providing support for couples to help them work on their marriages is an

obvious step. If we can get information and support to these families, we hope

to be able to support lasting marriages. "