Linking Healthcare, Family, and Work Systems: the Roles of Family-Centered Care, Family Resilience, and Caregiving-to-Work Conflict in Psychological Well-being among Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
摘要
Healthcare, family, and work systems constitute the primary living environments for parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). From the perspective of conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study explored how resources from healthcare and family systems could contribute to mitigated caregiving-to-work conflict and improved psychological well-being among parents of children with ASD. The sample included parents of children with a medical diagnosis of ASD and had received healthcare services within the past 12 months (N = 1,509) in the 2023 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH). Descriptive statistics, bivariate correlations, and path analyses via structural equation modeling (SEM) were conducted to examine the direct effects of family-centered care and family resilience on parental psychological well-being, as well as the mediating effects of caregiving-to-work conflict. The results indicated that family-centered care and family resilience were directly associated with enhanced parental psychological well-being, as they could strengthen families’ access to external and internal resources. However, caregiving-to-work conflict only mediated the association between family-centered care and parental psychological well-being, but did not mediate the association between family resilience and psychological well-being. By reducing caregiving-to-work conflict, family-centered care was indirectly associated with parents’ improved psychological well-being. When comparing standardized coefficients, the total effect of family resilience was larger than the total effect of family-centered care on psychological well-being. This study highlights that parents of children with ASD need diverse formal and informal support from multiple systems.