Abstract

CHRISTMANN, Michele; MARQUES, Mariana Amaro de Andrade; ROCHA, Marina Monzani da  and  CARREIRO, Luiz Renato Rodrigues. Maternal stress and need for care of children with ASD from the perspective of mothers. Cad. Pós-Grad. Distúrb. Desenvolv. [online]. 2017, vol.17, n.2, pp. 8-17. ISSN 1519-0307.  http://dx.doi.org/10.5935/cadernosdisturbios.v17n2p8-17.

High levels of stress are found in mothers of children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The literature attributes stress to the overload associated with the primary caregiver role. Faced with the need to give voice to the mothers in order to better understand their experiences, the objective of this research was to evaluate stress levels and to verify their perception about the relationship between need for child care and stress. 23 mothers of ASD children attending an institution participated. They responded to the LIPP Adult Stress Symptom Inventory (ISSL), which confirmed the high prevalence of stress (73.9%), with majority of psychological symptoms (64.7%). They also responded to a semi-structured interview, which identified that more than half consider it very difficult to have a child with ASD. Direct relationship between the necessary care with the child and the experienced stress was established. Reflections on important factors associated with mothers' stress and mental health are presented. It is concluded that it is necessary to offer interventions to facilitate the adaptation of the family to the need to care for their child with ASD and to encourage the structuring of a social support network to increase the quality of life of mothers.

Keywords : Autism; stress; mothers; caregivers; family relations.

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