Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Neuroscience, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
Department of Life Sciences and Public Health, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy.
Autism Res. 2021 Sep;14(9):1935-1947. doi: 10.1002/aur.2539. Epub 2021 May 20.
Parents of people with autism spectrum disorder experience both negative stressful and positive events. Several clinical and socio-demographic features of children on the autism spectrum have been associated with parenting stress in their families. However, there have been few studies that focus on adolescents and the role of cognitive impairment has rarely been addressed. The main aim of the present research is to explore associations between autism symptoms, cognitive impairment, emotional and behavioral problems, socio-demographic features, and maternal stress in a sample of young adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder with and without cognitive impairment. Cognitive impairment and emotional and behavioral problems are associated with maternal stress, while autism symptoms seem to play a minor role. Maternal education and occupation are only associated with maternal stress in the group with cognitive impairment, while maternal age is stress-associated in the group of adolescents without cognitive impairment. Age-related implications for intervention and future research directions are discussed. LAY SUMMARY: Parents of individuals on the autism spectrum are exposed to both negative stressful and enriching experiences during their parenthood. While the influence of several child characteristics and socio-demographic features on parental stress during childhood has been widely explored in past studies, studies on teenagers are limited. The aim of the present research is to explore the influence of several characteristics on maternal stress levels in families with teenagers on the autism spectrum. We found that cognitive impairment and emotional and behavioral problems are associated with maternal stress, while autism symptoms seem to play a minor role. Socio-demographic features are not associated with maternal stress. Broadly speaking, the subjective perception of parental distress in both groups is less related to teenagers' characteristics then the perception of having a difficult interaction with the teenagers. We divided our participants into two groups (one group with cognitive impairment and the other group without). We found that mothers of teenagers with cognitive impairment are generally more stressed compared to the other group. Furthermore, we confirm that emotional and behavioral problems seem to play a major role in maternal stress (especially in the group without cognitive impairment), while autism symptoms seem to play a minor role. Furthermore, we found that maternal education/occupation and maternal age are associated with maternal stress in the group with and the group without cognitive impairment respectively. This research highlights the association between several variables and stress in mothers of adolescents on the spectrum. Results are discussed in the framework of previous findings highlighting the lack of adequate care and support services for families, especially for those of adolescents on the spectrum with cognitive impairment.
自闭症谱系障碍患者的父母既经历负面压力事件，也经历积极压力事件。一些自闭症谱系儿童的临床和社会人口学特征与家庭中的育儿压力有关。然而，很少有研究关注青少年，认知障碍的作用也很少被提及。本研究的主要目的是探索自闭症症状、认知障碍、情绪和行为问题、社会人口学特征与自闭症青少年样本中母亲压力之间的关联，该样本包括有和没有认知障碍的青少年。认知障碍和情绪和行为问题与母亲压力有关，而自闭症症状似乎作用较小。母亲的教育程度和职业仅与有认知障碍组的母亲压力有关，而母亲年龄与无认知障碍组的青少年压力有关。讨论了与年龄相关的干预措施和未来研究方向的影响。
自闭症谱系个体的父母在育儿过程中既经历负面压力事件，也经历丰富体验。虽然过去的研究广泛探讨了几个儿童特征和社会人口学特征对儿童期父母压力的影响，但关于青少年的研究有限。本研究旨在探讨几个特征对自闭症谱系青少年家庭中母亲压力水平的影响。我们发现认知障碍和情绪和行为问题与母亲压力有关，而自闭症症状似乎作用较小。社会人口学特征与母亲压力无关。总的来说，两组青少年的特征与父母的主观压力感知的相关性小于与青少年互动困难的感知。我们将参与者分为两组（一组有认知障碍，另一组没有）。我们发现，与另一组相比，有认知障碍的青少年的母亲普遍压力更大。此外，我们证实情绪和行为问题似乎在母亲压力中起着主要作用（尤其是在没有认知障碍的组中），而自闭症症状似乎作用较小。此外，我们发现母亲的教育/职业和母亲年龄分别与有和没有认知障碍组的母亲压力有关。这项研究强调了几个变量与自闭症谱系青少年母亲压力之间的关联。结果在以前的研究结果的框架内进行了讨论，这些研究结果强调了缺乏针对有认知障碍的青少年及其家庭的适当护理和支持服务。
