Trait Emotional Intelligence among the Parents of Children with Autism and Typically Developing Children

Parents of children with autism need to possess skills necessary to deal with the intense interpersonal demands of caring for their children. Recently parent focused therapies for autism are gaining importance. Present study compared the Trait Emotional Intelligence of Parents of the Children with Autism and the Typically Developing Children. As Emotional Intelligence of parents can influence the quality of their care giving as well as the Emotional Intelligence of their children, the findings of the current study may have application value in helping the parents of children with Autism. Present study compared the Trait Emotional Intelligence of the Parents of Children with Autism (PA) and Typically Developing Children (PT). Two groups of parents (PA-30, PT-30) completed Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-ShortForm (TEIQue-SF). Independent samplet-test was used to find out the differences in Trait Emotional Intelligence between PA and PT groups. PA group scored significantly lower in Well-being, Self-Control and Sociability than PT group. Though, PA group scored low on Emotionality, the difference was not statistically significant. Based on the findings, implications are discussed.