Moms of autistic kids stressed but resilient

Mothers of children with autism tend to have higher stress levels and poorer mental health than other mothers, yet they seem to have remarkable strength and cope well with their autistic child. Autism is a developmental brain disorder that impairs, to varying degrees, a child's ability to communicate, interact socially and form relationships. Raising a child with autism is challenging and stressful, but it's also reassuring to find that mothers are doing well in many ways. Some past studies have suggested that parents of autistic children have more marital strain and often feel they lack emotional support. American researchers from the Children's Institute in Rochester, New York, used data from mothers of 61,772 children aged 4 to 17 years. Of these, 364 had autism. Overall, it was found that mothers of autistic children were more than twice as likely to say that their mental and emotional health was fair or poor - 17 percent, versus 7 percent of other women. However, these mothers also showed some remarkable strength. In particular, they were more likely than other women to say they had a very close relationship with their child, and that they were coping well with the demands of parenting. Mothers of children with autism were also less likely to say they got angry with their child, and they were similar to other mothers in how they dealt with family disagreements. The mothers of children with autism were more confident in their parenting skills and more likely to say they had a close relationship with their child. And there was no evidence that raising a child with autism increased tension within families. Reflecting on the above findings, perhaps there is something mothers of children with autism can teach others about how to maintain relationships with children in the context of high stress and poor social skills.