Parenting Stress High in Mothers of Autistic Kids

Mothers of autistic children have higher levels of parenting-related stress and psychological distress than the mothers of kids with developmental delay, says a new study.

"Both groups of women are dealing with children who need high levels of care-giving. But there is something about autism that is making a difference and adding stress and psychological distress to these mothers," said Annette Estes, lead author of a new study and associate director of the UW Autism Centre.

Autism Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment, Prognosis
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder typically characterized by impaired social and communication skills combined with repetitive movements.

The research from the University of Washington's Autism Centre found no link between a child's decreased daily living skills and increased parental stress and psychological distress.

"If a child has more needs in getting dressed and in other daily living skills, that means the parents are working harder and seemingly would be under stress," Estes said.

"But it is not the hard work that is stressing the mothers. Our findings really pointed to the behaviour problems that can occur with autism.

Stress and the Gender Divide
Stress has become entwined in the current lifestyle of a young working couple and has resulted in the rise in incidence of hypertension, diabetes and psychosomatic illnesses.

"Children with autism had significantly higher levels of problem behaviours than children with developmental delay," she added.

These behaviour problems included such things as irritability, agitation, crying, inappropriate speech, and not being able to follow rules.

Stress Incontinence About
Stress incontinence is the most common type of urinary incontinence. Women are more prone to it than men.

"Help in what we call family adaptive functioning is what we need to figure out in these cases. How to help families is important because high levels of stress and psychological distress can interfere with early identification of autism and interventions which are delivered by parents," she said.

"There's another good reason to do this: Parents who feel supported can better support their children," she added.

Anxiety Disorder - Types - Causes - Symptoms - Diagnosis - Treatment - FAQs
Anxiety disorder involves excessive worry about actual circumstances, events or conflicts. Anyone can develop this disorder. Genes may play a role.

Source-ANI
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