Associate Professor Dr. Sarah Dababnah, Clinical Associate Professor and Executive Director of Social Work Community Outreach Service Dr. Wendy Shaia, and Assistant Professor Dr. Irang Kim (Tulane University) published a new paper in the International Journal of Developmental Disabilities.
The paper, "I am so fearful for him: a mixed-methods exploration of stress among caregivers of Black children with autism." Social workers regularly screen and address parenting stress, given the well-known negative effects of stress on both children and their families. Yet, the research highlighted the need for more culturally relevant measures of parenting stress, as one widely used measure underestimated the degree of stress facing caregivers of Black children with autism. The paper highlights a series of practice implications related to each set of findings. Yet, it is important to note that many of the common stressors identified in the study are beyond caregivers' control. Thus, assessing and addressing stress can only be effective if coupled with efforts to dismantle structural racism and other forms of oppression.
The paper is available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/C5IBA7PICPRUXEFESMWY/full?target=10.1080/20473869.2020.1870418