The Importance of the Sex of the Parents and of the Sex and Age of the Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders to Family Resilience

The resilience of parents of children with autism is considered as one substantial strategy to address the problems in raising a child with autism spectrum disorders. In this article, the results of the investigation of the relation between the parents’ family resilience and their sex, as well as their children’s sex and age, are shown. The parents of 312 autistic children in Greece, all in couples, namely 624 men and women, consisted the population sample. It was considered that, at least regarding the factor of the sex, the research would result in covering some research gaps of the bibliography, such as the interest in the fathers, provided that research usually investigates the female side, ignoring, to a great extent, the paternal behavior. Moreover, it was believed that the research can practically contribute as a guide for the inclusion of the parents themselves in the therapeutic interventions of autism and highlight the importance of dividing their responsibilities in the care of the autistic child, which is usually placed on the shoulders of women, namely on the mothers, with every possible consequence on their mental, emotional and physical health. The correlation of resilience and sex also took into account the parameter of the children’s sex, as well as the issue of their age, in order to draw conclusions also about the importance of these factors of impact on the parents’ resilience.