Parental Acceptance and Understanding of Autistic Children (PAUACS) - an Instrument Development Study

Area of Science:

• Child Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Parental acceptance and understanding are vital for autistic children's well-being.
• Existing assessment tools for these parental factors are lacking.
• The development of a specific scale is necessary to address this gap.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate the reliability and validity of the Parental Acceptance and Understanding of Autistic Children Scale (PAUACS).
• To provide a psychometrically sound instrument for assessing parental perspectives on their autistic children.
• To facilitate research and clinical practice concerning parental attitudes towards autism.

Main Methods:

• A 30-item prototype scale (PAUACS) was administered to 158 parents of autistic children.
• Validated measures of parental sensitivity, neurodiversity attitudes, and child adjustment were included.
• Test-retest reliability was assessed with a subsample (n=97) after 2 weeks.

Main Results:

• The PAUACS demonstrated excellent internal reliability (Cronbach's α = 0.89) and test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.92).
• Exploratory factor analysis identified four factors: Understanding, Innate, Acceptance, and Expectations.
• The scale showed good construct, convergent, and divergent validity.

Conclusions:

• The PAUACS is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing parental acceptance and understanding of autistic children.
• This scale can be utilized in research and clinical settings to evaluate and support parents.
• Findings support the PAUACS as a valuable tool for enhancing family experiences and child outcomes.