The association of illness perceptions with depressive symptoms and general psychological distress in parents of an offspring with autism spectrum disorder.

Background: Raising a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a severe stressor and parents often present high levels of depression. Depression is associated with illness perceptions but this association has not been studied in parents of ASD offspring.

Objective: We aimed to assess the prevalence of psychological distress symptoms and their associations with illness perceptions in parents with an ASD offspring.