One powerful way to reduce their stress: social support. That's according to a new study published in Family Relations by researchers from Concordia University in Montreal.
And that support is essential as children -- and their parents -- age. It could also have important consequences for health costs.
For the study, psychology professors Jean-Philippe Gouin and Erin T. Barker, as well as their co-authors, investigated whether social support can protect against stress-induced immune problems.
They asked 56 healthy parents of children with ASD to complete questionnaires on formal social support (provided by health or social services professionals), informal social support (provided by significant others, friends and family) as well as self-rated health and recent somatic symptoms.
Study participants also provided blood samples to check for inflammation -- the automatic reaction of the innate immune system upon exposure to infection, injury or abnormal cells, or psychological stress. Chronic low-grade inflammation is also associated with greater risk for several age-related diseases, including cardiovascular disorders, diabetes, certain cancers, autoimmune diseases, frailty, dementia and early mortality.
The results indicated that greater informal social support was associated with lower inflammation, and that a higher number of formal support services received by the family was related to better self-rated health and lower inflammation.
Notably, the impact of support services on the parents' inflammation levels increased with the age of the affected child.