Parental Attunement, Insightfulness, and Acceptance of Child Diagnosis in Parents of Children With Autism: Clinical Implications.

Magda Di Renzo,Federico Bianchi Di Castelbianco,Massimiliano Petrillo,Lidia Racinaro,Viviana Guerriero,Giulio Cesare Zavattini

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01849

Magda Di Renzo, Federico Bianchi Di Castelbianco + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01849

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Abstract

Early parent–child relationships are an important factor influencing many domains of child development, even in the presence of autism. In this study, we investigated the associations between parent–child attunement during play, parental insightfulness, and parental acceptance of their child’s diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder. A sample of 50 parents (26 mothers and 24 fathers) of 26 children aged between 24 and 58 months were videotaped during parent–child play interactions and then interviewed about what they thought had gone through their child’s head during the play interaction, and about their feelings and thoughts about their child’s diagnosis. Play interactions were evaluated using a coding protocol to assess parental attunement. The results showed that parents who were more able to accept their child’s diagnosis and to see things from their child’s perspective were more likely to also be attuned during play interactions with their children. These findings highlight the importance of studying the parental ability of insightfulness and acceptance of their child diagnosis of ASD for the implementation of intervention programs for supporting parental attunement and improving the interactions between the parents and the children with autism spectrum disorders.

Highlights

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by deficits in social communication, and restrictive, repetitive behavioral patterns emerging early in child development
We examined the associations between insightfulness, acceptance of the diagnosis, and parental attunement with the study variables: parental gender, severity of the child’s symptoms, and level of parental education
We can assume that the parents able to accept their child diagnosis may better contrast the desires associated to the fantasies about his or her child as “healthy” (Pouillaude, 2018), protecting the child from the projection of unreal desires associated with him/her, or the parent manages to overcome the image of himself as the “parent of an autistic child” and that of the child as an “autistic child,” allowing both of them to access a process of individuation and psychic growth

Summary

Introduction

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by deficits in social communication, and restrictive, repetitive behavioral patterns emerging early in child development. These children show an intensified emotional reactivity and difficulties in emotion regulation (Samson et al, 2012). A 2019 review have revealed that parental verbal responsiveness to their children’s focus of attention predicted children’s expressive and receptive language (Edmunds et al, 2019). In this respect, considering that children with ASD may display poorer communicative behaviors than children with typical development, these fewer. Given the significance of difficulties in social relationships for these children, many researchers have argued for the need to better understand the role and quality of early relationships with primary caregivers (Crowell et al, 2019)

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