Suicidal risk among Chinese parents of autistic children and its association with perceived discrimination, affiliate stigma and social alienation.

Background: Caring for autistic children becomes challenging and may lead to negative psychological outcomes, even increasing the suicide risk (SR). Researchers have studied the SR among parents of autistic children in Western nations, but little is known about it in China and how it relates to perceived discrimination (PD), affiliate stigma (AS), and social alienation (SA). The current study aimed to reveal the SR prevalence rate among Chinese parents of autistic children, and clarify whether AS and SA may play mediating roles in the association between SR and PD.

Methods: A total of 645 Chinese parents of autistic children were recruited to complete a series of scales to evaluate SR, SA, AS, and PD using the Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised (SBQ-R), Perceived Discrimination Scale for Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (PDS-FP), Affiliate Stigma Scale (ASS), and General Social Alienation Scale (GSAS), respectively. Then, the SR prevalence rate among Chinese parents of autistic children was evaluated; and the multiple mediation analysis and structural equation modeling with the bootstrap method were conducted to test the mediating effects of AS and SA in the association between SR and PD.

Results: 34.6% Chinese parents of autistic children had high SR. In particular, the incidence rate of suicide ideation, suicide plans, suicide attempts, and suicide likelihood during the previous year were 49.8%, 11.9%, 2.5%, and 13.8%, respectively. Additionally, PD was positively associated with SR (r = .40, p < .01); and AS and SA showed significant mediating effects on the association between PD and SR (p < .01).

Conclusions: The current study evaluated the SR prevalence rate among Chinese parents of autistic children, and clarified the mediating effects of AS and SA in the association between SR and PD. Findings might bring new insights and guidance for intervention of suicidality among Chinese parents of autistic children.