Introduction
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a group of neurodevelopmental disorders that affect communication and social interaction skills. Children with ASD often face challenges in their daily functioning and adaptive behavior, which can also affect their families. In this blog post, I will summarize a recent study by Hagar Binoun Chaki and Yifat Faran that explored how family characteristics, especially emotional support from mothers and mothers-in-law, can influence the functioning of children with ASD in Bedouin society in Israel.
Background
The Bedouin population is a traditional and conservative society that lives mostly in the Negev desert in southern Israel. Bedouin families are typically large, extended, and patriarchal, with strong ties between generations. Women are expected to obey their husbands and their husbands’ families, and to take care of the household and the children. The Bedouin culture values collectivism, solidarity, and loyalty, but also has low awareness and acceptance of disabilities, especially mental ones.
Children with ASD in Bedouin society face multiple barriers, such as lack of diagnosis, treatment, and education, as well as stigma and discrimination. Their mothers also experience high levels of stress, isolation, and burden, which can negatively affect their mental health and well-being. However, previous studies have shown that emotional support from family members, especially grandparents, can buffer the negative effects of parenting a child with ASD and improve the child’s outcomes. Therefore, the authors of this study wanted to examine how emotional support from mothers and mothers-in-law can affect the functioning of children with ASD in Bedouin society, and whether this effect is mediated by family functioning and satisfaction in life.
Methods
The study involved 100 Bedouin mothers of children with ASD, aged between 4 and 16 years, who lived in unrecognized villages in the Negev. The mothers completed a questionnaire that measured the following variables:
- Emotional support from mother and mother-in-law: The degree to which the mothers felt that their own mothers and their husbands’ mothers provided them with emotional support, such as listening, understanding, and expressing interest.
- Family functioning: The degree to which the mothers perceived their families as cohesive, adaptable, and communicative.
- Satisfaction in life: The degree to which the mothers were satisfied with their lives in general.
- Child adaptive behavior: The degree to which the children with ASD showed skills in communication, daily living, socialization, and motor abilities.
The authors used statistical analyses to test the associations between these variables and to examine whether family functioning and satisfaction in life mediated the effect of emotional support from mother and mother-in-law on child adaptive behavior.
Results
The results showed that emotional support from mother and mother-in-law was positively correlated with family functioning, satisfaction in life, and child adaptive behavior. This means that the more support the mothers received from their mothers and mothers-in-law, the better their families functioned, the more satisfied they were with their lives, and the more adaptive their children were.
The results also showed that family functioning and satisfaction in life serially mediated the effect of emotional support from mother and mother-in-law on child adaptive behavior. This means that emotional support from mother and mother-in-law led to better family functioning, which in turn led to higher satisfaction in life, which in turn led to improved child adaptive behavior.
The authors tested the model separately for emotional support from mother and emotional support from mother-in-law, and found that both had similar effects. However, emotional support from mother-in-law had a stronger effect on family functioning, while emotional support from mother had a stronger effect on satisfaction in life.
Discussion
This study provides evidence that emotional support from mothers and mothers-in-law can enhance the functioning of children with ASD in Bedouin society, by improving the functioning and well-being of their mothers. The study highlights the importance of intergenerational solidarity between women, especially in traditional and marginalized populations, where women face multiple challenges and constraints. The study also suggests that interventions for children with ASD and their families should involve the extended family, and particularly the grandmothers, as a source of support and empowerment.
The study has some limitations, such as the small and non-random sample, the reliance on self-report measures, and the lack of a control group. Therefore, the results should be interpreted with caution and replicated with larger and more diverse samples. However, the study contributes to the literature on ASD in non-Western cultures, and sheds light on the role of family characteristics in the development and well-being of children with ASD.
Faq
What are the sources and the effects of emotional support from grandparents on the functioning of children with ASD and their parents?
The sources and the effects of emotional support from grandparents on the functioning of children with ASD and their parents are the providers and the outcomes of emotional support from grandparents, which is a type of social support that involves listening, understanding, and expressing interest. The sources and the effects of emotional support from grandparents on the functioning of children with ASD and their parents are: (1) the sources are the maternal and paternal grandparents, who are the parents of the mother and the father of the child with ASD, respectively, (2) the effects are positive and beneficial, as emotional support from grandparents can buffer the negative effects of parenting a child with ASD and improve the child’s and the parent’s outcomes, such as their adaptive behavior, family functioning, and satisfaction in life, (3) the effects are mediated by the family functioning and the satisfaction in life, which are the mechanisms that explain how emotional support from grandparents leads to improved child and parent outcomes, and (4) the effects are similar for both sources of emotional support, but emotional support from mother-in-law has a stronger effect on family functioning, while emotional support from mother has a stronger effect on satisfaction in life.
What is the theoretical framework of the paper?
The paper is based on the ecological systems theory, which posits that human development is influenced by the interaction between the individual and the environment, including the microsystem (immediate family), the mesosystem (relations between microsystems), the exosystem (external influences), and the macrosystem (cultural values and norms).
Source:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-024-06255-z