Comparison of depressive disorders between the mothers of children with and without autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

IntroductionAutism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental condition that involves persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts and impairment in behavioral functioning such as restricted, repetitive and stereotyped pattern of behavior, interest or action. These symptoms begin in children before the age of 3 years. Epidemiological studies have consistently shown that autism spectrum disorder affects more males than females. 1The prevalence of autism was reported 5.2 out of 10,000 from 1966 to 1998. 2 Current estimates suggest that in the United States the rate of ASD is 1 in every 50 school. 3 But according to DSM 5, the frequency is 1% of the population worldwide.Children with ASD often remain physically and emotionally dependent on their mothers. Additionally, many children with ASD require intensive educational, behavioral and health services, which can be difficult for mother to access and when accessible, can require parental time and resources to facilitate.Thereby mothers of children with ASD are at a heightened risk for depression compared to mothers of normally developing children. These increased rates of depression are assumed to result from the increased stress and difficulty associated with caring for a child with ASD. 4 Indeed, relative to parents with other disabilities, parents of children with ASD report more concerns about their child's future needs and experience higher parental stress, which in turn is associated with increased depression. 5 Parents raising a child with ASD are faced with unique and extremely challenging stressors everyday; and thereby increased burden and psychological distress, decreased marital satisfaction, lower self-confidence, increased helplessness and increased negative emotions including fear, anger and resentment. 6-8 Factors related with parental stress of autistic children involve: children characteristics, especially behavioral symptoms, lack of appropriate professional support, social attitudes towards autistic people and difficulties in understanding the problems. 9 Summary Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neuro-developmental disorder and a lifelong condition which has considerable impact on parents. Various psychiatric conditions are common in mothers of ASD children including depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, feeling of social isolation and high social anxiety. The objective of the study was to evaluate the presence of depression in mothers of ASD children in comparison with mothers of normally developing children. This was a cross-sectional, comparative and analytical study carried out in the outpatient department of Psychiatry in collaboration with the Shishu Bikash Kendro of Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital Sylhet, Bangladesh during the period from 1 st January 2015to 31 st December 2015. A total of 75 mothers of ASD children were selected by convenient sampling technique and grouped as group A. Another 75 age matched mothers of normally developing children were recruited and g...