The high demands of caring for and raising a child with autism spectrum disorder on a daily basis may lead parents to physical and mental fatigue. This study aimed to assess the effect of social support and spirituality on the fatigue of parents with children with autistic spectrum disorder. A cross-sectional study with a convenience sample was conducted in Schools of Special Education in Attica (Greece). The sample consisted of 123 parents who completed The Fatigue Assessment Scale (FAS), the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), and the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy Spiritual Well-Being Scale (FACIT Sp-12) to measure the levels of fatigue, social support, and spirituality, respectively. The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to investigate the relationship between the quantitative variables. To study the effect of social support and spirituality on fatigue, multivariable linear regression was applied. The mean age was 47.3 years old, 81.3% were women, and 38.9% stated “Close/Very close faith toward God”. Higher levels of total MSPSS and FACIT Sp-12 were associated with lower total FAS (r = −0.50, p < 0.001 and r = −0.49, p < 0.001, respectively). Social support and spirituality were significant predictors of fatigue.

The high demands of caring for and raising a child with autism spectrum disorder on a daily basis fatally lead parents to the appearance of physical and mental fatigue. This study aimed to assess the effect of social support and spirituality on the fatigue of parents with children with autistic spectrum disorder. A cross-sectional study with a convenience sample was conducted in Schools of Special Education in Attica (Greece). The sample consisted of 123 parents who completed The Fatigue Assessment Scale (FAS), the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), and the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy Spiritual Well-Being Scale (FACIT Sp-12) to measure the levels of fatigue, social support, and spirituality, respectively. Demographic data were, also, recorded. Data analysis was applied using IBM SPSS 21.0. The mean age was 47.3 years old, 81.3% were women, and 38.9% stated much / very much religious. The mean of total FAS was 28.4 (SD±7.5), of total FACIT Sp-12 was 31.5 (SD±8.7), and of total MSPSS 5.1 (SD±1.1). Higher levels of total MSPSS and FACIT Sp-12 were associated with lower total FAS (r= -0.50, p <0.001 and r= -0.49, p<0.001 respectively). Social support and spirituality are significant predictors of fatigue.