The quality of life in parents raising children with an autism spectrum disorder from Poland, Belarus and France

Purpose: To assess the health-related quality of life (HRQL) in parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Materials and methods: The sample consisted of 83 families with children with ASD, including 30 families from Poland, 25 from Belarus, and 28 from France. Parental HRQL was surveyed with the World Health Organization Quality of Life–BREF (WHOQOL–BREF) and KINDLR questionnaires. Results: This study showed that Polish parents reported the lowest quality of life according to the WHOQOL–BREF. Parents from Belarus reported slightly worse HRQL than parents from France, though other aspects of quality of life (e.g, social sphere, somatic sphere) did not differ significantly between these parents. Parents from Poland also reported lower HQOL according to the KINDLR questionnaire, while parents from Belarus had a higher HQRL in the mental, physical, and self-esteem domains compared to parents from Poland and France. Conclusion: Parents from Poland with children with ASD reported lower HRQL both on the WHOQOL–BREF and KINDL R questionnaires compared to parents from Belarus and France.