The impact of maternal, child, and family characteristics on the daily well-being and parenting experiences of mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder.
Moms of autistic kids feel more parenting frustration on days they wake up blue and the house runs on strict, unbendable rules.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Eussen et al. (2016) asked moms of kids with autism to fill out short surveys every night for two weeks.
They wrote down how sad or happy they felt and how frustrating the day felt.
They also answered questions about family rules and how close the family feels.
What they found
On days when moms felt more depressed, they also said parenting was harder.
Stiff, unchangeable family routines made those bad days worse.
Surprise: when kids showed less interest in people, moms actually felt more positive that day.
How this fits with other research
Ekas et al. (2011) first showed that tiny happy moments can protect moms from daily stress. Eussen et al. (2016) now adds that moms’ own low mood and rigid house rules are the main daily spoilers.
Kuhn et al. (2018) looked at moms of teens and found that weak or tense support links raise depression. The new study says the same thing happens day-to-day inside the home, not just across years.
Eapen et al. (2024) later tracked families for months and found child behavior problems slowly wear moms down through executive-function overload. Eussen et al. (2016) captures that same wear-and-tear in real time: one rough evening after another.
Why it matters
You can’t fix autism traits, but you can loosen rigid routines and spot mom’s daily mood drop. Try a quick nightly check: “One thing we can do differently tomorrow?” Small flex cuts next-day friction for both mom and child.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
This study utilized a daily diaries method to explore the global factors that impact daily general affect and daily parenting interactions of mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder. Eighty-three mothers of a child with autism spectrum disorder between the ages of 3 and 13 years completed global assessments of maternal depressive symptoms, child autism spectrum disorder symptom severity, and family functioning. Mothers then reported on their daily negative and positive affect as well as their daily positive and frustrating parenting interactions for 14 consecutive days. The results indicated that higher levels of maternal depressive symptoms were related to decreased daily positive affect, whereas greater child social motivation impairments were related to increased daily positive affect. Only maternal depressive symptoms were associated with increased daily negative affect. Furthermore, higher levels of family cohesion were related to increased daily positive parenting interactions. Finally, higher maternal depressive symptoms as well as family rigidity were related to increased daily frustrating parenting interactions. Implications for interventions focused on the family system are discussed.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2016 · doi:10.1177/1362361315620409