Human Development and Family Studies Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI.
Fam Process. 2020 Jun;59(2):636-650. doi: 10.1111/famp.12432. Epub 2019 Mar 7.
Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often report poor psychological well-being, including a high level of parenting stress and depressive symptoms. Little is known about the extent to which poor parent psychological well-being alters the emotional quality of the parent-child relationship in a context of child ASD. This study examined the association between actor (one's own) and partner (one's partner's) level of parenting stress and depressive symptoms and the emotional quality of the parent-child relationship using a Five Minute Speech Sample (FMSS) in 150 families of children with ASD, aged 5-12 years (85.7% male). Mothers and fathers were aged 38.69 (SD = 5.62) and 40.76 (SD = 6.19), respectively; 76% of mothers and 68% of fathers had a college degree. Structural equation modeling, using Analysis of Moment Structures software, was used to test Actor-Partner Interdependence Models. Results indicated that mother's level of parenting stress and depressive symptoms were associated with her own FMSS Warmth and Criticism toward the child with ASD 12 months later in negative and positive directions. Mother's level of parenting stress was also negatively associated with father's FMSS Warmth toward the child with ASD 12 months later. Finally, father's level of parenting stress was positively associated with his FMSS Criticism toward the child with ASD. Overall, findings indicate that the mother-child and father-child relationship are both impacted by parent psychological well-being in families of children with ASD; however, actor effects are stronger for mothers and partner effects were only found for fathers. Implications for interventions are discussed.
自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童的父母通常报告心理健康状况不佳，包括高水平的育儿压力和抑郁症状。在儿童患有 ASD 的情况下，父母心理健康状况不佳在多大程度上改变亲子关系的情感质量知之甚少。本研究使用五分钟演讲样本（FMSS）在 150 个 ASD 儿童家庭中（85.7%为男性），检查了演员（自己）和伴侣（自己的伴侣）育儿压力和抑郁症状的水平与亲子关系的情感质量之间的关联。母亲和父亲的年龄分别为 38.69（SD=5.62）和 40.76（SD=6.19）；76%的母亲和 68%的父亲拥有大学学历。使用结构方程建模，使用分析矩结构软件，测试演员-伙伴相互依赖模型。结果表明，母亲的育儿压力和抑郁症状水平与她自己的 FMSS 温暖度和 12 个月后对 ASD 儿童的批评呈负向和正向相关。母亲的育儿压力水平也与 12 个月后父亲对 ASD 儿童的 FMSS 温暖度呈负相关。最后，父亲的育儿压力水平与他对 ASD 儿童的 FMSS 批评呈正相关。总体而言，研究结果表明，在 ASD 儿童的家庭中，母亲与孩子和父亲与孩子的关系都受到父母心理健康的影响；然而，演员效应更强，而伴侣效应仅在父亲中发现。讨论了干预措施的影响。
