Comportements inadaptés chez les enfants autistes et désespoir parental : le rôle modérateur du fonctionnement réflexif parental

Aperçu: G.M.

Le désespoir chez les parents a des répercussions sur leur propre bien-être ainsi que sur leur capacité à répondre aux besoins de leurs enfants.
Dans la présente étude, nous avons examiné l'effet des comportements inadaptés chez les enfants autistes sur le désespoir parental, en accordant une attention particulière à la question de savoir si le fonctionnement réflexif parental modérerait l'effet des comportements inadaptés sur le désespoir parental.

Notre échantillon comprenait 68 parents d'enfants autistes âgés de 3 à 18 ans.
Les résultats ont révélé une relation positive significative entre les comportements inadaptés chez les enfants et le désespoir chez les parents. De plus, le fonctionnement réflexif parental a modéré l'effet des comportements inadaptés de l'enfant sur le désespoir parental, de sorte que les comportements inadaptés des enfants étaient positivement associés au désespoir parental chez les parents ayant un fonctionnement réflexif faible (mais pas élevé).
Les résultats suggèrent que le fonctionnement réflexif parental peut être un facteur de protection contre le désespoir parental, et donc une cible possible pour les interventions en cas de désespoir chez les parents dont les enfants autistes présentent des comportements inadaptés plus importants. 

 

. 2022 Nov 5.

doi: 10.1002/aur.2841. Online ahead of print.

Maladaptive behaviors in children with autism and parental hopelessness: The moderating role of parental reflective functioning

Yael Enav  ¹ , Marguerite V Knudtson  ² , Antonio Y Hardan  ² , James J Gross  ²

Affiliations

• PMID: 36333959
• DOI: 10.1002/aur.2841

Abstract

Hopelessness in parents has implications for parents' own well-being as well as their ability to meet the needs of their children. In the present study, we examined the effect of maladaptive behaviors in children with autism on parental hopelessness, with particular attention to whether parental reflective functioning would moderate the effect of maladaptive behaviors on parental hopelessness. Our sample included 68 parents of children with autism between the ages of 3 and 18. Findings revealed a significant positive relationship between maladaptive behaviors in the children and hopelessness in the parents. Moreover, parental reflective functioning moderated the effect of child maladaptive behaviors on parental hopelessness, such that children's maladaptive behaviors were positively associated with parental hopelessness in parents with low (but not high) reflective functioning. Findings suggest parental reflective functioning may be a protective factor against parental hopelessness, and thus a possible target for interventions for hopelessness in parents whose children with autism exhibit greater maladaptive behaviors.

Keywords: adults; affect/emotion; children; clinical psychology; restricted/repetitive behaviors.

© 2022 The Authors. Autism Research published by International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals LLC.

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