Death concerns and psychological well-being in mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder.

Purpose: Utilizing a terror management theory perspective, the present research examined whether having a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with underlying cognitions and explicit worries about death, and their roles in psychological well-being.

Method: 147 mothers of children with ASD (n=74) and typically developing children (n=73) completed a fear of death scale, as well as measures of death-thought accessibility, positive and negative affect, depression, and anxiety.

Results: Following previous research, mothers of children with ASD reported worse psychological health.