FAMILY BURDEN AND CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS: PERSPECTIVE OF CAREGIVERS Sobrecarga familiar e crianças com transtornos do espectro do autismo: perspectiva dos cuidadores

Purpose: to evaluate the burden of family caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorders, as perceived by themselves. Methods: 20 subjects participated, of both genders, aged between 22 and 60 years (mean = 32.6), ten families of children with autism spectrum disorders and, to compose the control group, ten family members of children with disorders language. The children were between three and ten years of age (Mean = 5.8). The control group was selected from the pairing of age, education and gender of children. In order to evaluate the caregiver burden Scale was used Burden Interview and sociodemographic data were collected from participants. The statistical analysis was performed from the Mann-Whitney and Spearman correlation analysis (p <.05). Results: mean overload index of family caregivers of both groups was 28, therefore, no difference was observed statistically significant and indicated that the G1 and G2 were moderately overloaded. Participant characteristics were not significant in overload index. Conclusions: caring for children with autism spectrum disorders can overwhelm their families similarly to the relatives of children with other disorders of development.