Stress, anxiety and depression in parents of children with autism spectrum disorders in Kazakhstan: prevalence and associated factors.

Introduction: Studies worldwide reported increased levels of stress among parents of children with autism due to the unique caregiving challenges. While research has shown that parents' and autistic child's demographics and behavioral characteristics are associated with psychological distress among caregivers of children with autism, very few studies have investigated the impact of the caregiver's unmet needs on various aspects of the perceived family burden. Methods: This cross-sectional study examined the prevalence of stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms among a wide range of 146 parents with different sociodemographic characteristics, social support and unmet needs who care for children with autism spectrum disorder. These parents were recruited from autism non-governmental organizations and the National Children's Rehabilitation Center in Astana, Kazakhstan, a post-Soviet country in Central Asia. Multiple linear regression analyses were utilized to examine the relationship of parental psychological distress variables with social support, unmet needs and parental and child sociodemographic characteristics. Results: Significantly higher levels of stress and depression were reported among parents who perceived their needs as being unmet or extremely unmet as addressed by societal acceptance as compared to parents who reported adequate levels of needs met by social acceptance. Employed parents and parents with a higher level of perceived friends' support had less symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression. Conclusions: Increasing public awareness about autism and providing early detection and interventions for distressed caregivers of children with autism may be helpful in improving healthy functioning of parents and the entire family.

Community Readiness for Increasing Older Adult Physical Activity Levels in Kazakhstan.

Introduction: Physical activity is proven to be a significant element of successful aging, but many seniors worldwide fail to achieve the recommended levels. This study aimed to assess the readiness of the community in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, to act on the issue of physical inactivity among older adults. Methods: In order to achieve this purpose, we conducted qualitative interviews with key informants in the community and applied a validated community readiness tool. Results: The results suggest that the local community is at early stages of readiness to act on the issue of older adult physical inactivity. We identified a number of barriers that prevented seniors from leading active lifestyles, which included community misconceptions about older adult physical activity, family centeredness in older adulthood, scarcity of resources, passive support from the leadership, and lack of efforts in the community. Research findings also highlighted the importance of conducting in-depth analysis of key informant responses in addition to calculating readiness scores, when using the community readiness tool. Conclusions: Community-specific strategies for enhancing the level of physical activity among seniors are required to offset the disease burden associated with aging and to prolong life expectancy in Kazakhstan, and it is of paramount importance to tailor potential efforts as to address the current readiness of the community and its needs.