Ferenc Kinga, Byrka Katarzyna, Król Magdalena Ewa
SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Poland.
Autism. 2023 Jan;27(1):54-64. doi: 10.1177/13623613221081185. Epub 2022 Mar 16.
Mothers of children on the autism spectrum experience high levels of emotional distress. Mothers cope with stress by having their own thoughts and opinions about their children. In this study, we tested whether the way mothers perceive autism may contribute to the level of distress they feel. Some mothers see autism as a developmental disorder that needs to be cured, but some see autism as a type of mind that needs to be accepted. Our findings showed that mothers who see autism more as a type of mind are generally less stressed. But we also showed that it matters how severe are the child's symptoms, and how heavy was the perceived burden of caring for the child. These results imply that it is worth working on attitudes towards autism to help mothers cope better. But at the same time, we argue that mothers should not be judged for their perceptions of autism, as there is a huge spectrum of a child's characteristics and family's life circumstances.
患有自闭症谱系障碍孩子的母亲经历着高度的情绪困扰。母亲们通过对自己孩子有自己的想法和观点来应对压力。在这项研究中，我们测试了母亲看待自闭症的方式是否会导致她们所感受到的困扰程度。一些母亲将自闭症视为一种需要治愈的发育障碍，但一些母亲将自闭症视为一种需要被接纳的思维类型。我们的研究结果表明，更多地将自闭症视为一种思维类型的母亲通常压力较小。但我们也表明，孩子症状的严重程度以及感知到的照顾孩子的负担有多重也很重要。这些结果意味着致力于改变对自闭症的态度以帮助母亲更好地应对是值得的。但与此同时，我们认为不应该根据母亲对自闭症的看法来评判她们，因为孩子的特征和家庭生活环境存在巨大差异。
