The impact of behaviour problems on caregiver stress in young people with autism spectrum disorders

205

154

The present study examined the impact of autism symptoms and coping strategies on the well-being of mothers of children with ASD. The sample consisted of 153 mothers of toddlers and 201 mothers of adolescents drawn from two ongoing, longitudinal studies of families of individuals with ASD. For mothers of toddlers, lower levels of emotion-focused coping and higher levels of problemfocused coping were generally associated with better maternal well-being, regardless of the level of child symptomatology. For mothers of adolescents, coping often acted as a buffer when autism symptoms were high. Although there was evidence of maternal distress in both groups, the presence of significant buffering effects reflects adaptation in the face of stress, particularly for mothers of adolescents. Keywordscoping; autism symptoms; maternal well-being; toddlers; adolescents Raising a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is considered to be a highly stressful event for families (Duarte, Bordin, Yazigi, & Mooney, 2005). In comparison to parents of children with other disabilities (Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome, undifferentiated developmental disability, and cerebral palsy), mothers of individuals with ASD report more negative impact and poorer well-being during their children's preschool years (Eisenhower, Baker, & Blacher, 2005) and adulthood Blacher & McIntyre, 2006). Despite the challenges associated with caring for a child with a developmental disability, there is evidence that coping strategies may play a protective role for parents (Essex, Seltzer, & Krauss, 1999;Seltzer, Greenberg, & Krauss, 1995). The present study evaluated the impact of children's autism symptoms and maternal coping strategies on well-being in mothers of toddlers and mothers of adolescents with ASD. Child Characteristics and Maternal Well-BeingThe challenging behaviors of children with ASD have been repeatedly associated with poor maternal psychological well-being Allik, Larsson, & Smedje, 2006;Herring et al., 2006) and high levels of stress (Bromley, Hare, Davison, & Emerson, 2004;Lecavalier, Leone, & Wiltz, 2006). There is some Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to: Leann E. Smith, Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1500 Highland Ave., Madison, WI 53705. Phone: (608) 890-1390; Fax: (608) NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript debate, however, if the core symptoms of ASD, or alternatively, behavior problems more generally, drive this connection between autism and maternal well-being. For instance, a recent study by Hastings, demonstrated that behavior problems of preschool children with autism, but not adaptive behavior or severity of autism symptoms, were associated with maternal stress. Similarly, in a study comparing toddlers and preschoolers with pervasive developmental disorder to those with developmental delays, emotional and behavioral problems predicted maternal stress, mental health problems, and family dysfunction above the effects of diagnosis, le...

Section: Child Characteristics and Maternal Well-beingmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Comparative Analysis of Well-Being and Coping among Mothers of Toddlers and Mothers of Adolescents with ASD

Smith

Seltzer

Tager–Flusberg

et al. 2007

205

154

“…Mental ill-health is recognised to have a negative impact on long term outcomes for individuals with autism and intellectual disabilities (Billstedt et al, 2005;Bradley et al, 2006). Furthermore, problem behaviours are associated with increased family (Lecavalier, Leone, & Wiltz, 2006), and carer stress (Tyrer et al, 2006), and in adults with autism and intellectual disabilities has a strong association with the risk of being moved to an out of area placement, and increased service costs (Allen, Lowe, Moore, & Brophy, 2007). Research is required to develop an understanding of the risk and vulnerability factors relevant to the development of mental illhealth in children, young people and adults with intellectual disabilities.…”

Section: Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Prevalence and Incidence of Mental Ill-Health in Adults with Autism and Intellectual Disabilities

Melville

Cooper

Morrison

et al. 2008

115

The prevalence, and incidence, of mental ill-health in adults with intellectual disabilities and autism were compared with the whole population with intellectual disabilities, and with controls, matched individually for age, gender, ability-level, and Down syndrome. Although the adults with autism had a higher point prevalence of problem behaviours compared with the whole adult population with intellectual disabilities, compared with individually matched controls there was no difference in prevalence, or incidence of either problem behaviours or other mental ill-health. Adults with autism who had problem behaviours were less likely to recover over a two-year period than were their matched controls. Apparent differences in rates of mental ill-health are accounted for by factors other than autism, including Down syndrome and ability level.

“…These responses take the form of irritability, poor anger control, temper tantrums, self-injurious behavior, aggression, and mood dysregulation (Lecavalier et al 2006;Prizant and Laurent 2011;Quek et al 2012). In addition, there is an increasing recognition of the impact of severe emotion disturbances in ASD (Laurent and Rubin 2004;Mazefsky et al 2012;Samson et al 2012), and initial empirical findings suggests that maladaptive emotional responses may contribute to impaired functioning (Jahromi et al 2013) and could consequently affect long-term outcome.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emotion Dysregulation and the Core Features of Autism Spectrum Disorder

Samson

Phillips

Parker

et al. 2013

247

167

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between emotion dysregulation and the core features of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), which include social/communication deficits, restricted/repetitive behaviors, and sensory abnormalities. An 18-item Emotion Dysregulation Index was developed on the basis of expert ratings of the Child Behavior Checklist. Compared to typically developing controls, children and adolescents with ASD showed more emotion dysregulation and had significantly greater symptom severity on all scales. Within ASD participants, emotion dysregulation was related to all core features of the disorder, but the strongest association was with repetitive behaviors. These findings may facilitate the development of more effective therapeutic strategies targeting emotion dysregulation in order to optimize longterm outcomes for individuals with ASD.