Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Mar;46(3):942-53.
doi: 10.1007/s10803-015-2637-9.

Understanding the Experience of Stigma for Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and the Role Stigma Plays in Families' Lives

Sydney H Kinnear  1   2 , Bruce G Link  3   4   5 , Michelle S Ballan  6   7 , Ruth L Fischbach  8   9
Affiliations

Understanding the Experience of Stigma for Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and the Role Stigma Plays in Families' Lives

Sydney H Kinnear et al. J Autism Dev Disord. 2016 Mar.

Abstract

Stigma is widely perceived in the lives of families with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) yet large, systematic studies have not been undertaken. Following Link and Phelan's (Ann Rev Sociol 27:363-385, 2001) model, this study of 502 Simons Simplex Collection families details how different factors contribute to stigma and how each appears to increase the overall difficulty of raising a child with ASD. The model begins with the child's behavioral symptoms and then specifies stigma processes of stereotyping, rejection, and exclusion. Autism behaviors contribute both to the difficulty families experience raising a child with autism and to the stigma processes associated with those behaviors. Stigma also plays a significant role (.282, p < .001) in predicting how difficult life is overall for parents.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder; Discrimination; Exclusion; Regression analysis; Rejection; Scales; Stereotyping; Stigma.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Autism. 2016 Apr;20(3):353-63 - PubMed
    1. Int J Soc Psychiatry. 2014 Feb;60(1):63-70 - PubMed
    1. Health Care Women Int. 2011 Aug;32(8):708-22 - PubMed
    1. Qual Health Res. 2008 Aug;18(8):1075-83 - PubMed
    1. Neuron. 2010 Oct 21;68(2):192-5 - PubMed

Publication types