Program in Nursing Science, University of California Irvine, 299D, Berk Hall, Irvine, CA, 92697-3959, USA.
Department of Psychology and Social Behavior, University of California Irvine, 4201 Social and Behavioral Sciences Gateway, Irvine, CA, 92697-7085, USA.
J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2017 Oct;45(7):1369-1383. doi: 10.1007/s10802-016-0234-9.
Few studies have investigated patterns of emotion coregulation in families of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or contrasted the ways in which their emotion coregulation patterns differ from families of typically developing (TD) children. To address this gap, we used a dynamic systems approach to compare flexible structure and emotional content of coregulation between mothers and children (3-7 years) with ASD (n = 47) and TD children (n = 26). Mother-child play interactions in the home were videotaped and emotion-engagement states were coded in micro-level 5-s intervals based on behavioral and affective expressions. Analyses indicated that mother-child dyads in the ASD group spent more time than dyads in the TD group in mismatched emotion-engagement states (e.g., child negative/mother positive), and children with ASD spent more time than TD children engaged exclusively with objects. Mother-child dyads in the TD group stayed longer in mutual positive engagement states. Compared to dyads in the TD group, mother-child dyads in the ASD group exhibited greater flexibility (i.e., a wider range of emotional-engagement states, more frequent changes in states, and less time in each state). These findings suggest that mothers and their children with ASD do not sustain dyadic positive engagement patterns in a low-stress environment. Findings confirmed the preference of children with ASD for objects over social partners, even when they are at home with their mothers, and elucidated a challenging mother-child interactional style. Results have implications for mother-child interventions aimed at regulating negative emotional states and sustaining positive ones in families raising children with ASD.
很少有研究调查自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童家庭的情绪共同调节模式，也很少有研究对比其情绪共同调节模式与正常发育（TD）儿童家庭的差异。为了弥补这一空白，我们使用动态系统方法比较了 ASD 儿童（n=47）和 TD 儿童（n=26）的母亲与儿童之间的共同调节的灵活结构和情绪内容。家庭中的母子游戏互动被录像，并根据行为和情感表达在微级 5 秒间隔内对情绪参与状态进行编码。分析表明，与 TD 组相比，ASD 组的母子对在不匹配的情绪参与状态（例如，孩子消极/母亲积极）下花费的时间更多，并且 ASD 儿童比 TD 儿童更多地专注于物体。TD 组的母子对在相互积极参与状态下停留的时间更长。与 TD 组相比，ASD 组的母子对表现出更大的灵活性（即，更广泛的情绪参与状态、状态变化更频繁以及每个状态的时间更少）。这些发现表明，在低压力环境下，患有 ASD 的母亲和孩子不会维持二元积极参与模式。研究结果证实了 ASD 儿童对物体的偏好超过对社交伙伴的偏好，即使他们与母亲在家中也是如此，并阐明了具有挑战性的母子互动方式。研究结果对旨在调节自闭症儿童家庭中负面情绪状态和维持积极情绪状态的母子干预措施具有启示意义。
