ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry
Sec. Autism and Other Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Volume 4 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frcha.2025.1619993
Comparative Analysis of Stress Levels and Coping Strategies in Parents of Neurodivergent and Neurotypical Children
Provisionally accepted
- 1Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Veracruzana, Minatitlán, Mexico
- 2Universidad Autónoma de la Ciudad de México, México, Mexico
- 3University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
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Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) face unique challenges that may significantly increase stress levels, potentially impacting the emotional well- being of the entire family. In Mexico, limited research has examined the association between parental stress and coping strategies among families with children with developmental disabilities. This study aimed to compare stress levels and coping strategies among parents of children with ASD, ADHD, and neurotypical developing (NTD) children, as well as to analyze differences in coping styles across these groups. A cross-sectional, descriptive-comparative design was employed with 212 parents of children aged 3 to 5 years, with a formal clinical diagnosis made by a pediatric neurologist. Participants completed validated questionnaires assessing parental stress and coping styles. Results revealed that parents of children with ASD and ADHD reported significantly higher stress levels (M = 116.7 and M = 88.1, respectively) compared to parents of NTD children (M = 67.2). Significant differences in coping strategies were observed (p < .001); 100% of ASD/ADHD parents used emotion-focused coping, whereas 94.93% of NTD parents used problem-focused coping. These findings emphasize the importance of designing interventions to support coping and stress regulation in parents of children with ASD and ADHD.
Keywords: Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Behavioral mechanisms, coping skills, autism spactrum disorder, Parents
Received: 29 Apr 2025; Accepted: 31 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Méndez-Lara, Ramirez-Rodriguez, Santos Marcial and Puig-Lagunes. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Angel Puig-Lagunes, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Veracruzana, Minatitlán, Mexico
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