Psychological distress among parents

The distress experienced by parents of children with ASD begins as soon as the first warning signs are suspected and evolves over time with the demands of caring for the child on the one hand and the parental ideal on the other. To the best of our knowledge the issue of parental burnout although a recent one has been addressed more in the general population and among parents of children with diabetes and other chronic illnesses. Few studies have been carried out on parents of children with ASD and there are no African studies on this subject. The aim of this study was to explore the impact of perceived burden on the onset of parental burnout in parents of children with ASD. 52 parents including 14 fathers and 38 mothers chosen voluntarily and by convenience took part in the study.The results revealed that 96.15% of participants had a low perception of their ability to cope with stress; 26.92% had definite anxiety symptomatology; 19.23% had definite depression symptomatology; 38.46% had Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and 26.92% had Parent Burnout. In the end perceived burden is linked to Parental Burnout.