Changes in maternal feelings for children with autism spectrum disorder after childbirth: The impact of knowledge about the disorder.

Sarah Tomiyama,Daisuke N Saito,Yuko Yoshimura,Takashi Ikeda,Nobushige Naito,Chiaki Hasegawa,Mitsuru Kikuchi,Hirokazu Kumazaki,Yoshio Minabe,Kenji Hashimoto

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0201862

Abstract

The social interactions between caregivers and their children play a crucial role in childhood development; therefore, caregivers’ feelings for children are critical for the development of social minds. Mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are known to experience higher levels of stress. However, knowledge regarding mothers’ feelings for their children before receiving a clinical diagnosis is limited. This study retrospectively investigated the time course of mothers’ feelings from the time of birth and the effect of protective factors. The participants were 5- to 8-year-old children with an ASD diagnosis and their mothers. The mothers of the children with ASD had less positive feelings toward their children than the mothers of the typically developed (TD) children before receiving a clinical diagnosis. Intriguingly, prior knowledge of ASD may relieve maternal mental distress during the child-rearing years and at the time of diagnosis.

Highlights

Mothers’ emotions impact effective parenting during infancy
The emotional interactions between a mother and her child are induced by their behaviors, and such interactions play a crucial role in forming social minds
The second purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of 3 possible protective factors on the time course of the mothers’ feelings for their children

Summary

Introduction

Mothers’ emotions impact effective parenting during infancy. Strong negative emotions in parents may disrupt cognition and decision making, cause excessive interference with their child, and induce tendencies to take actions that overwhelm processes that normally control negative emotions; strong negative emotions lead to negative expressive behaviors, and vice versa [1]. The social interaction between mothers and their children plays an important role in development during infancy; a mother’s feelings for her children are extremely important to the development of the child’s social mind. The emotional interactions between a mother and her child are induced by their behaviors, and such interactions play a crucial role in forming social minds. Recent neuroimaging studies demonstrated the neural responses which underlie this process [2,3,4].

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