Relation between Care Burden, Depression and Suicide Risk among Family Caregivers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is among the greatest tough circumstances for family caregivers to intervene with and give attention. The situation described above results in burden, depression, in addition to suicide risk among the caregivers. Aim: This study was created with the intention of assessing the relation between care burden, depression and suicide risk among family caregivers of children with ASD. Research design: A descriptive correlational research design was applied. Sample: A purposive sample of 60 family caregivers of children with ASD were selected from Minia Hospital for Mental Health and Addiction Treatment's children and adolescent outpatient clinic in Minia governorate. Tools: Sociodemographic questionnaire including (Data related to family caregivers & data related to the child), Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview, Beck Depression Inventory BDI-II and Frequency of Suicidal Ideation Inventory were utilized. Results: The mean age of family caregivers is 37.4±7.4, about 61.7% of respondents are mothers and most of autistic children (81.7) are boys. 75% of studied family caregivers suffer from moderate to severe level of burden, more than half of the sample have moderate depression, also, moderate and high frequency of suicidal ideation among the participants are represented by 11.7 & 6.7% respectively. Conclusion: A significant positive correlation between family caregivers’ burden with both depression and frequency of suicide ideation is found as well as a strong significant positive correlation is indicated between depression and frequency of suicide ideation among samples studied. Recommendations: Develop comprehensive support systems to better assist family caregivers in reducing burdens, managing their multifaceted responsibilities and well understanding of all risk factors that can lead to depression and suicide.