PERCEIVED SOCIAL SUPPORT AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS AMONG PARENTS OF CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER: MEDIATING ROLE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL FLEXIBILITY AND COPING, AND MODERATING ROLE OF CHILD'S THERAPY STATUS

Abstract

Childhood with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with significant psychological distress in parents, but the effect of perceived social support in buffering the distress remains ambiguous, especially in Pakistan. The present study investigated the mediating role of psychological flexibility and coping styles (problem and emotion focused, avoidant) between perceived social support and psychological distress, as well as the moderation of this relationship by the child's therapy status. Twenty-five hundred (168 mothers and 82 fathers) parents of children who have ASD were recruited using purposive sampling, consisting of 119 children receiving therapy and 131 children not receiving therapy in a cross-sectional design. Parents filled out the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the Psy-Flex, the Brief COPE, and the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10). Over half of the parents (54.8%) had very high distress. There was a strong, negative correlation between perceived social support and distress (r = −.90, p < .001). Psychological flexibility, problem-focused coping and avoidant coping partially mediated this relationship in PROCESS Model 4, while emotion-focused coping did not. Therapy status moderated the support–distress relationship (ΔR² = .007, p = .003) with a stronger relationship in the parents of children not on therapy, and with no differences in distress or flexibility between the two groups. Support networks, psychological flexibility, and adaptive coping should be reinforced, particularly in families lacking therapy access, as interventions.