Caregiver Mental Health, Parenting Practices, and Perceptions of Child Attachment in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

© 2018, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature. This paper investigates the role of caregiver mental health and parenting practices as predictors of attachment in children with intellectual disability/developmental delay, comparing between children with ASD (n = 29) and children with other developmental disabilities (n = 20). Parents reported that children with ASD had high levels of anxiety and stress, and attachment insecurity in children (less closeness and more conflict in attachment relationships, and more inhibited attachment behaviours) compared with children with other developmental disabilities. Children’s attachment quality was associated with parenting practices and the presence of an ASD diagnosis. These results highlight the bidirectional nature of the quality of caregiving environments and attachment in children with ASD, and also provide a strong rationale for targeting children’s attachment quality in early interventions

Attachment and child behaviour and emotional problems in autism spectrum disorder with intellectual disability

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Background: Behaviour and emotional problems are highly prevalent in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In typically developing children, attachment quality acts as a risk/protective factor for behavioural outcomes and adjustment, warranting investigation in children with ASD. Method: We investigated the relationship between attachment and child behaviour and emotional problems in children with ASD and comorbid intellectual disability. Data were collected from parent–child dyads where children were diagnosed with ASD and ID (n = 28) or other developmental disabilities (n = 20). Results: Children with ASD had higher levels of behaviour and emotional problems and more attachment difficulties than children with other developmental disabilities. Poorer attachment quality contributed uniquely to the variance in child behaviour and emotional problems. Conclusions: Interventions targeting behaviour and emotional problems in children with ASD may benefit from an attachment model which addresses the child's difficulty in using caregivers as a coregulatory agent of emotions

The role of exposure to self-injury among peers in predicting later self-injury

While researchers are beginning to reach consensus around key psychological correlates of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), comparatively less work has been done investigating the role and influence of peers. Given evidence that engagement in this behavior may be susceptible to peer influence, especially during the early stages of its course, the current study prospectively explored whether knowing a friend who self-injures is associated with the onset, severity, and subsequent engagement in NSSI. The moderating roles of adverse life events, substance use and previous suicidal behavior in this relationship also were explored. Self-report data were collected from 1,973 school-based adolescents (aged 12–18 years; 72 % female) at two time points, 1 year apart. Knowing a friend who self-injured, negative life events, psychological distress and thoughts of NSSI differentiated those who self-injured from those who did not, and also predicted the onset of NSSI within the study period. Further, adverse life events and previous thoughts of NSSI moderated the relationship between exposure to NSSI in peers and engaging in NSSI at Time 2. However, the effect of having a friend who selfinjures was not related to the severity of NSSI. Having a friend who self-injures appears to be a risk factor for selfinjury among youth who are experiencing high levels of distress. Implications of these findings are discussed