Coping Resources for Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Inclusive Education

Introduction. The central role of parents in the life of a child with autism spectrum disorder (hereinafter referred to as ASD) determines the need to understand what helps parents adapt and cope with such difficulties as combating potential academic and behavioral problems, providing adequate support in the implementation of inclusive education. Of particular interest are the resources involved in counteracting stress of parents of children with ASD, since the family has a correctional and educational resource for a child with disabilities (hereinafter referred to as CWD). The purpose of the study is to identify the features of resource coping with stress by parents of children with ASD in comparison with parents of conditionally healthy children in the context of inclusive education. Materials and methods. The study involved 60 parents. The data collection methods were: "PSM-25 Psychological Stress Scale" adapted by N. E. Vodopyanova, "Proactive Coping Questionnaire" adapted by E. S. Starchenkova, and D. Zimet's multidimensional scale of perception of social support. Methods of mathematical statistics: Mann-Whitney U-test, Pearson correlation coefficient. KEYWORDS Results. Parents of children with autism experience greater stress than parents of conditionally healthy children (U=65; p<0.01). The expression of personal coping resources in parents of children with autism is lower than in parents of conditionally healthy children. Significant differences in the use of social coping resources, such as family (U=292.5; p<0.01) and significant others (U=324; p<0.05) were revealed. Active coping strategies such as proactive (r=-0.627; p<0.01), reflective (r=-0.459; p<0.05), strategic planning (r=-0.703; p<0.01), preventive coping (r=0.486; p<0.05) decrease with high stress levels, indicating difficulties for parents in using effective methods of dealing with distress. The higher the stress level of parents of children with ASD, the lower they rate the availability and effectiveness of social support. Conclusion. Parents of children with ASD experience high levels of stress and have low effectiveness of coping strategies, especially in the areas of proactive and reflective coping, strategic planning and seeking social support.