Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin--Madison, Madison, WI 53705-2280, USA.
Dev Psychol. 2011 Mar;47(2):551-61. doi: 10.1037/a0021268.
Raising an adolescent or adult child with a developmental disability confers exceptional caregiving challenges on parents. We examined trajectories of 2 indicators of emotional well-being (depressive symptoms and anxiety) in a sample of primarily Caucasian mothers (N = 379; M age = 51.22 years at Time 1) of adolescent and adult children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD; M age = 21.91 years at Time 1, 73.2% male). We also investigated within-person associations of child context time-varying covariates (autism symptoms, behavior problems, residential status) and maternal context time-varying covariates (social support network size and stressful family events) with the trajectories of emotional well-being. Data were collected on 5 occasions across a 10-year period. Average patterns of stable (depressive symptoms) and improved (anxiety) emotional well-being were evident, and well-being trajectories were sensitive to fluctuations in both child and maternal context variables. On occasions when behavior problems were higher, depressive symptoms and anxiety were higher. On occasions after which the grown child moved out of the family home, anxiety was lower. Anxiety was higher on occasions when social support networks were smaller and when more stressful life events were experienced. These results have implications for midlife and aging families of children with an ASD and those who provide services to these families.
养育患有发育障碍的青少年或成年子女会给父母带来特殊的照顾挑战。我们研究了主要为白种人母亲（N=379；在第 1 次时的平均年龄为 51.22 岁）的青少年和成年自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童（在第 1 次时的平均年龄为 21.91 岁，73.2%为男性）的 2 个情绪健康指标（抑郁症状和焦虑）的轨迹。我们还调查了儿童随时间变化的协变量（自闭症症状、行为问题、居住状况）和母亲随时间变化的协变量（社会支持网络规模和压力大的家庭事件）与情绪健康轨迹的个体内关联。数据是在 10 年期间的 5 个时间点收集的。稳定（抑郁症状）和改善（焦虑）情绪健康的平均模式明显，并且幸福感轨迹对儿童和母亲环境变量的波动很敏感。在行为问题较高的时候，抑郁症状和焦虑程度较高。在成年子女搬出家庭后，焦虑程度较低。当社会支持网络较小和经历更多压力生活事件时，焦虑程度较高。这些结果对患有 ASD 儿童的中年和老年家庭以及为这些家庭提供服务的人具有重要意义。
