The long-term psychological processing of an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis in parents

A child's ASD diagnosis represents a critical event for parents, often requiring them to face the loss of their child's ideal image and reevaluate the family life projects. The aim of this study is to explore how parents retrospectively reconstruct and integrate their child's ASD diagnosis through autobiographical memories.

21 parents, 16 mothers and 5 fathers, that received the ASD diagnosis within five years, were administered the Reaction to Diagnosis Interview (RDI). Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed using a two levels approach. The first one to explore the patterns of meanings that emerged in the whole parents' autobiographical memories through the Reflexive Thematic Analysis. The second one is to identify patterns of resolution or non-resolution of the impact of the diagnosis.

Findings show suffering and struggling as main themes and subthemes and a prevalence of unresolved diagnoses; gender differences in the way of managing the child-related care tasks, efforts, and coping strategies emerged.

In line with literature, our findings suggest that the availability of supportive resources plays a crucial role in facilitating parents' adjustment and integration of the ASD experience and harmonizing gender differences. They also emphasize that the impact of ASD diagnosis is not a single event but an ongoing process of meaning-making which changes with the child's developmental path. Our findings highlight the need for cognitive and emotional reconstruction and reframing of parents' autobiographical memories. These processes play a kay role in shaping how the diagnosis experience is integrated into one's narrative identity, creating opportunities for transforming the meaning of the remembered experience.