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Family Functioning and Coping Behaviors in Parents of Children Wi
Digital Commons @ EMU
Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations Master's Theses, and Doctoral Dissertations, and Graduate Capstone Projects

1-1-2006

Family Functioning and Coping Behaviors in Parents of Children with Autism
Matthew J. Altiere

Follow this and additional works at: http://commons.emich.edu/theses Recommended Citation
Altiere, Matthew J., "Family Functioning and Coping Behaviors in Parents of Children with Autism" (2006). Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations. Paper 54.

This Open Access Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Master's Theses, and Doctoral Dissertations, and Graduate Capstone Projects at Digital Commons @ EMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ EMU. For more information, please contact lib-ir@emich.edu.

FAMILY FUNCTIONING AND COPING BEHAVIORS IN PARENTS OF CHILDREN WITH AUTISM by Matthew J. Altiere

Thesis Submitted to the Department of Psychology Eastern Michigan University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in Clinical Psychology

Thesis Committee: Dr. Silvia von Kluge (chair) Dr. Nina A. Nabors Dr. Carol Freedman-Doan

August 18, 2006 Ypsilanti, Michigan

ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank all of the people who helped develop, organize, edit, and produce this thesis research, including my committee members, Silvia von Kluge, Nina Nabors, Carol Freedman-Doan; the Human Subjects Review Committee Chair, Karen Saules; and my friends and colleagues who edited, proofed, or simply provided support during the project.

iii Abstract We looked at how a child with autism affects the dynamics and coping behaviors of a family. A majority of studies on families with a child with autism collect information from the mother but not the father. Therefore, this study examined the involvement of both parents from a family systems theory approach, which

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