AAAP Today

Dads’ parenting of children with autism improves moms’ mental health

Mothers of children with autism often experience higher levels of stress, depression and anxiety than other mothers. A research study showed that greater involvement of fathers in caring for their children with autism can boost mothers’ mood and reduce their stress.

Fathers who read to their children, or respond when the child cries, can give the mothers respite, enabling mothers to perform other tasks or engage in self-care activities that boost their mood and reduce stress.

An important area in which father can play a critical role is in helping improve the children’s communication skills, a deficit area affecting most children with autism. Activities such as reading to their kids, telling stories or singing songs are going to be very beneficial for the child’s development of communication skills and learning words.

Prior research and work by early interventionists have focused solely on mothers’ parenting of their children with autism, reflecting societal expectations that fathers are less involved, said Brent A. McBride, a professor of human development and director of the Child Development Laboratory at Illinois and a co-author of the research study.

"In family systems that include children with autism, the stressors are huge, and mothers need all the support they can grasp," McBride said. "Whether it comes from the child’s father, their social network or online resources, mothers need additional support to be able to continue functioning in an effective way. We, as a society, have to ask men to become involved, and it’s very important that men fully understand the reasons why their support and active engagement in parenting is so critical for the family’s functioning and for the child."

A caveat was suggested by the study authors in that differing perspectives of fathers and mothers could produce conflicting parenting styles. This possibility calls for fathers and mothers taking time to recognize areas of difference, discuss and accommodate those differences, in order to reach decisions that affect their interactions with the children in a consistent manner.

The families in the study were participants in the National Center for Education Statistics Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort, which collected data on more than 14,000 children’s development at the ages of 9 months, 2 and 4 years.

The study sample was restricted to families in which both biological parents resided with the child for their first four years to ensure that the father’s presence could influence the mother’s depressive symptoms.

Source: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "Dads’ parenting of children with autism improves moms’ mental health: Fathers’ engagement in literacy, caregiving activities reduces mothers’ depression, stress." Science Daily, 14 July 2015. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150714131600.htm>.

Journal reference: Daniel J. Laxman, Brent A. McBride, Laurie M. Jeans, W. Justin Dyer, Rosa M. Santos, Justin L. Kern, Niwako Sugimura, Sarah L. Curtiss, Jenna M. Weglarz-Ward. Father Involvement and Maternal Depressive Symptoms in Families of Children with Disabilities or Delays. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 2014; 19 (5): 1078

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The Autism Father – does he have a central or peripheral role?

By Lirio Sobrevinas-Covey, Ph.D.

It has impressed me whenever I see photos of conferences and meetings attended by Filipino families of children with autism in Facebook and other media, that the gatherings are consistently predominated by women, presumably mostly mothers. Where are the fathers?

As well, when searching the literature on parenting of children with autism, the data collected by the researchers, for the most part, come from and are about mothers. This imbalance in knowledge and reporting obtained from mothers versus fathers has been said to be dramatic.

Typically, the gender breakdown of responses from parent participants in research studies has been 80% mothers and 20% (or less) fathers.Yet, it is established data that most persons with autism are male; the gender ratio is 4:1 favoring men. What then, could be reasons why fathers are under-represented in autism activities?

In literature from the U.S., these are some suggested explanations:

– Fathers are less often invited to participate in research activities,

– They are less inclined to participate in autism related non-research activities.

– They are less available.

– Within the family, the mother is regarded as the primary care-giver.

– The researchers may be less attentive to the experiences of fathers.

Turning to obtained research knowledge, these are some nuggets I gleaned from the limited literature on this topic.

– Fathers of children with autism experience the commonality of being a father, just like fathers of typically developing (non-autistic) children.

– Nevertheless, there is a realization of modified expectations, for example, in accomplishing athletic activities that a typically developing child would be able to do.

– With that could come “pangs of jealousy” when seeing fathers whose non-disabled children are able to participate more fully in activities.

– These fathers often realize and acknowledge that more is demanded of them. Days are more intense and often exhausting. Since the child needs more help in day to day routines and they have to engage and accompany their child in extraordinary things like supplemental therapies – speech, occupational, behavioral.

– Finally, I am struck by findings that fathers often feel less confident in meeting the demands and challenges of their child’s disabilities. Could this simply be due to lack of practice?

Because most of the research, scant as it is, has focused on the present day activities of fathers and their children, there is hardly any attention on the father’s role in preparing for and managing the child’s future, especially their financial and residential future. Yet, here again, is an irony since the financial status of the family is usually and typically, in the hands of the father.

The truth is, fathers in autism families, just as in non-affected families, have a central role in the lives of their children. The particular features of how their involvement unfolds are surely influenced by the challenges of autism. Since fathers have been heard from only peripherally, little is known about their experiences and their day-to-day adaptations. Quoting McGrath and Chesler (2004) in their study of parents of children with health problems, “the mother cries to someone, the father cries alone”.

It is vitally important to consider and focus on the unique and important role of fathers in the lives of their children with autism. The information above are anecdotal reports from US fathers. We yet have to know how those observations and suggestions are experienced by Filipino families.

We need to hear from and about Filipino fathers of sons and daughters with autism. The knowledge would be fascinating, instructive, and essential to the children’s development and future welfare to adulthood.

Fathers, I would appreciate hearing about your experiences and your opinions on this matter, mothers too. You can send a reply to this posting or to my email address: liriocovey.

Reference: Cheuk, S & Lashewicz (2015). How are they doing? Listening as fathers of children with autism spectrum disordr compare themselves to fathers of children who are typically developing. Autism: 1-10.

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Unusual eating patterns linked to overweight or underweight in children with autism. More research needed on diet and weight issues in adults.

By Lirio Sobrevinas-Covey, Ph.D.

Researchers have found that children with autism are more likely to be overweight or underweight compared to the general child population. Unusual dietary patterns and decreased opportunities for physical activity may be contributory factors to being overweight. Selective eating patterns, limited food repertoire, fear of eating new or unfamiliar foods, hypersensitivity, and other mealtime behavior issues may be contributory factors to being underweight.

Whether it results in being overweight or underweight, unusual dietary patterns may result in the child’s being malnourished and requiring of nutritional supplements or fortified foods to ensure that they fully meet dietary guidelines.

These findings imply the importance of diagnosing autism spectrum disorders as early as possible and the development of effective nutritional strategies consistently applied during the person’s lifetime.

Comment: Thus far, research has focused on the dietary needs of children with autism. As these children age, and the number of middle-aged and elderly people with autism spectrum disorders inevitably grow, there is a need for autism research to focus on the nutritional needs of these adult populations as well.

Excerpted from: "Review examines nutritional issues related to autism spectrum disorder"​, Science Daily. July 15, 2015. The American Society for Nutrition"

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