Hauser Claire T, Kover Sara T, Abbeduto Leonard
Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States.
Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States.
Res Dev Disabil. 2014 Oct;35(10):2477-86. doi: 10.1016/j.ridd.2014.06.012. Epub 2014 Jun 29.
The purpose of this study was to examine the bidirectional relationships relationship between maternal mental health status, maternal stress, family environment and behavioral functioning of children with fragile X syndrome (FXS), the leading cause of inherited intellectual disability. Children with FXS commonly demonstrate challenging behavior related to anxiety, attention, and aggression, whereas mothers of children with FXS have been identified as susceptible to mental health challenges due to their status as genetic carriers of the FXS premutation, as well as the environmental stressors of raising children with special needs. The longitudinal design of this study builds upon prior work that established a concurrent relationship among these factors in families of children with other intellectual disorders. Findings indicated that maternal mental health status was not significantly related to changes in levels of child challenging behavior, heightened child challenging behavior was related to improvements in maternal depression over time, and heightened levels of child challenging behavior was related to increased feelings of maternal closeness toward the child over time. The unexpected nature of the results regarding maternal depression and closeness provides new and more complex hypotheses about how mothers of special needs children demonstrate adaptation and resilience. The findings have implications for maternal and familial mental health treatment as well as future research.
本研究的目的是探讨患有脆性X综合征（FXS）的儿童的母亲心理健康状况、母亲压力、家庭环境与行为功能之间的双向关系，脆性X综合征是遗传性智力残疾的主要原因。患有脆性X综合征的儿童通常表现出与焦虑、注意力和攻击性相关的具有挑战性的行为，而患有脆性X综合征的儿童的母亲由于其作为脆性X综合征前突变基因携带者的身份，以及抚养有特殊需求儿童的环境压力源，已被确定易受心理健康挑战。本研究的纵向设计建立在先前的工作基础之上，先前的工作确定了这些因素在患有其他智力障碍儿童的家庭中的并发关系。研究结果表明，母亲心理健康状况与儿童具有挑战性的行为水平变化没有显著关系，随着时间的推移，儿童具有挑战性的行为增加与母亲抑郁状况的改善有关，随着时间的推移，儿童具有挑战性的行为水平提高与母亲对孩子的亲密感增加有关。关于母亲抑郁和亲密感的结果的意外性质为特殊需求儿童的母亲如何表现出适应能力和恢复力提供了新的、更复杂的假设。这些发现对母亲和家庭心理健康治疗以及未来研究具有启示意义。
