Relationship between affiliate stigma and family quality of life among parents of children with autism spectrum disorders: The mediating role of parenting self-efficacy

Background: The parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are under great pressure and experience discrimination in their daily lives, which affects their family quality of life (FQOL). Objective: - To investigate the interrelations among affiliate stigma, FQOL and parenting self-efficacy in the parents of children with ASD. - To identify a possible direction for psychological interventions to improve FQOL. Methods: A total of 237 parents of children with ASD were recruited in a university-affiliated hospital in Guangzhou, China, from October 2020 to April 2021 by convenience sampling. The Affiliate Stigma Scale, Parenting Sense of Competence Scale and Beach Center Family Quality of Life Scale were employed for data collection. Results: The results showed that affiliate stigma negatively predicts total FQOL and the dimensions of FQOL through both a direct effect and an indirect effect through parenting self-efficacy. Conclusions: The findings suggest that affiliate stigma is an important predictor of FQOL, and interventions to reduce affiliate stigma and strengthen parenting self-efficacy might be effective in improving FQOL in the parents of children with ASD.