Autism
Onset of maternal psychiatric disorders after the birth of a child with autism spectrum disorder: A retrospective cohort study
This research paper looks at the incidence of mental health problems in mothers with a child with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) and Learning Disability (LD), with a child with ASD and no LD and to compare this with mental health problems in mothers with a typically developing child.
The team analysed medical data from over 250,000 women in Western Australia and found that of the three groups, overall, mothers with children with ASD and no LD were most likely to suffer with mental health problems. They suggest that in view of their findings more support and interventions are put in place for mothers with children diagnosed with ASD.
Publisher: Sage
Jenny Fairthorne, Peter Jacoby, Jenny Bourke, Nick de Klerk and Helen Leonard, Article first published online: 4 February 2015, Autism January 2016 vol. 20 no. 1 37-44,
http://aut.sagepub.com/content/20/1/37.full.pdf+html (PDF link)
http://aut.sagepub.com/content/20/1/37.abstract (Abstract link)
