The purpose of this paper is to synthesize and analyze journal articles related to the etiology of parental psychiatric conditions of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and the development of psychiatric conditions after diagnosis; and how the two are interrelated and cyclical.
Parents of children with ASD encounter a variety of unexpected- emotional, physiological, and financial challenges in their lifetime. Parents of children with autism spectrum disorders often have “elevated levels of depressive symptoms and psychological distress” (Meltzer, 2010, p. 362) and are at “a heightened risk for mental health problems” (Ingersoll & Hambrick, 2011 p. 337) not only compared to parents of neurotypical children; but also in contrast to parents with children with Down syndrome, an intellectual disability, fragile X syndrome, and development delay (Meltzer, 2010; Ingersoll & Hambrick, 2011).
Background Information
The rate of autism spectrum disorders has risen exponentially in the past forty years from 1 in 10,000 in the 1970s, to 1 in 1,000 in 1995, to a staggering 1 in 68 today; (CDC.gov) which means many families are impacted and coping with this devastating disorder. (CITE)
In 2013, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-V) combined four previously individual diagnoses that all had deficits in two primary areas: (1) “social communication and social interaction,” and (2) “restricted repetitive behaviors, interests, and
Having a child given a diagnosis of an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a very stressful event for parents. It is imperative to understand that there is much that can be done for both parent and the child. From the current literature we know that parents of children diagnosed with autism worry about many things like lifetime dependency to family dissonance. We know that these parents are distressed and angry, the parents of children with more unusual behaviors feel a lot more stressed than the parents of children with fewer unusual behaviors. However, having a strategy to approach it correctly and to get the best possible help for your child is probably the most important step, one can take to relieve stress and to aid the child’s development.
In the early 1900’s autism was a completely misunderstood concept and any child who was living with it was assumed to be living with “childhood schizophrenia” and developed much slower than children without autism. A four year study of Donald Triplett gave Dr. Kannar a better understanding of what autism was and what it caused certain people to do. The main question was, does it affect the child’s development? Living with autism can affect a child’s development due to the fact that they don’t have a long attention span, can cause them to have a repetitive behavior, along with trouble in social situations whether it be verbal or non verbal.
The awareness of autism today has mostly been achieved due to organizations of active parents, advocating for their kids. It started in the 1960s and spread globally. The growing awareness of autism has led to more research attempts to understand autism and the development of new interventions and increased accessibility to valuable care and education.
This hardships and struggles were focused on their child’s tantrums that are present in the condition ASD and how they cope up with it. Participants also described having to make lifestyle transitions in their life. One lifestyle transitions affected their careers for them to focus more in taking care of their child. Family activities and relationships with their non-affected children was also affected being involved in a child with autism. It was shown in the study how autism spectrum disorder give an impact in the primary caregivers’ life and his/her family. The findings suggest that professionals need to engage more with families when conveying a diagnosis of autism, particularly with families that is financially unstable. Thus, the findings suggest that there is a need to inform the future families who may experience the involved responsibilities of having an autistic child.This study gave several recommendations to three particular subjects the Families /Primary Caregivers, Government and the Community. All these subjects are selected for the enlightenment of this topic which is autism spectrum disorder(ASD). The findings from this study therefore provide hope and encouragement for parents of children with autism in particular, but also for parents raising children with intellectual disabilities
According to the 2014 estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 1 in 68 children have been identified as having an autism spectrum disorder (ASD); a rate that has been steadily growing over the past 20 years (National Autism Association, 2015). Increases in reported frequencies for ASD are most likely due to a combination of factors including broader diagnostic criteria and increased awareness as well as a true increase in the number of people with ASD (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Autism it self does not effect life expectancy and, in general, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) can expect to live as long as the non-cognitively impaired population (National Autism Association,
Autism statistics in today's world are alarming. Even more alarming is having your own child diagnosed with autism.
As research into autism spectrum disorders has increased over recent years and this has resulted in changes to the way that American psychiatry diagnoses autism spectrum disorders. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) is used by clinicians as a guide to diagnoses of mental health illnesses and since its first publication in 1930’s it has been updated every 20 years, and these updates reflect on new research and discoveries.
There is comprehensive evidence that shows parents and caregivers of children with diagnosed Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) experience mental health issues including high risk of depression, anxiety, and familial stress (Whitehead, et al. 2015). These behaviors can coincide with positive experiences of caregiving (Whitehead, et al. 2015).
Karst, J., & Hecke, A. (2012). Parent and Family Impact of Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review and Proposed Model for Intervention
Autism is a disorder that can wreck havoc in the lives of many, and all it takes is one diagnosis. Most families never expect autism to occur in their family. But once it does, the family will never imagine the effect it will have. The family of a child with autism “[is] faced with intolerable mental, economic, and social pressure” (Mosayebi 4). Could a child with autism have a substantial enough effect on the family to cause separation and divorce of their parents?
A pilot study by McLeod (1999) over three years, with a sample of eight adults, using case studies and both qualitative and quantitative methods of research (including questionnaires, interviews and follow-up) described parents of individuals on the Autism spectrum, as ‘the
Parents of children with autism often suffer from stress and anxiety. Dealing with children with autism places extraordinary demands on the shoulder of parents that can be added over the usual parental daily work and responsibilities. Compounding the needs and work load of the family members to the responsibilities of raising a child with autism can be multiplied and easily create a hectic situation where parents feel the pressure under such circumstances and suffer psychological symptoms that can be overwhelming to both parents and siblings of children with autism.
Nevertheless, it would be easy to believe that half of our population can fit in a mental disorder because the DSM has become broader making continuum of disorder, thus if somebody is not entirely bipolar, he/she might fall into the depressive category. Similarly, it happens with Autism, Aspeger’s, and Pervasive Developmental disorders that have been integrated into a single Autism Spectrum Disorder. Now, the impact of a diagnosis can be more profound for a parent since the cause and the cure of autism are unknown. For a child that is high functioning, has good academic standing and has some social abilities, it is more hopeful to call him Asperger than to call him autistic. There are many stories of Asperger or PDD children that through ABA therapy have been able to succeed at school and create a richer social life. However, not many of these stories are told about low functioning autistic, so this could produce more negative emotions on parents than what the way it was
Financial burdens are an obvious upset to families with autistic children, on top of the already heavy expense of having a child there is now medical costs and often counselling. Sen and Yurtsever (2007) reported that families often feel “shock, denial, suffering, depression, guilt, indecision, anger, shame, bargaining, acceptance and adaptation” upon discovering they have a child who suffers from ASD. This disorder has effects on their daily “lifestyles, social relationships, economic situation, health, and goals or expectations for the future” (Norton & Drew, 1994; Sen & Yurtsever, 2007). “Autism is the most common neurological condition diagnosed in children and it is now
In 2011, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that on average, 1 in 10 children each year are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (Hunt & Marshall, 2012, p. 304). However, the number of children diagnosed with autism in recent years is