Abstract

Most parents who receive a diagnosis of a serious developmental disorder like Autism Spectrum Disorder for their child, go through a complex process of coming to terms with the diagnosis. To be considered as “resolved” with respect to the diagnosis, parents need to acknowledge and regulate the emotions evoked by their child's diagnosis and revise their view of the child in line with the diagnosis. Parents considered "Resolved" successfully integrate representations related to the child's diagnosis with representations of the child. Consequently, these parents can see both the strengths and the difficulties of their children, and acknowledge additional characteristics of the child beyond those related to the diagnosis. Previous research has shown that parental resolution was associated with sensitive caregiving and secure attachment. Therefore, it is important to understand what may help parents to move towards resolution. So far, studies have examined the association between demographic and personal characteristics of the parents and resolution, but the contribution of the couple’s characteristics has not been investigated. Thus, the goal of the current study was to examine the association between co-parenting and parental resolution.

The hypothesis was that co-parenting that involves understanding, support, trust and cooperation, could assist parental resolution. Co-parenting was measured by the Co-parenting Relationship Scale, a self-report questionnaire completed by each of the spouses. Parental resolution was evaluated using the Reaction to Diagnosis Interview coded using a novel coding system consisting of continuous rating scales (rather than dichotomous categorization).

This study included 80 couples who were parents of children aged 3-5 years with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The findings partially supported the research hypotheses. Higher co-parenting was associated with greater resolution among fathers, but not among mothers. Also, no interaction was found between each parent’s report regarding co-parenting and resolution. Theoretical and methodological explanations for the study results are discussed, as well as limitations of the present study and suggestions for further research.