Emotieregulatie-strategieën van jonge kinderen met autisme en het verband met empathie van de moeder

There are indications that children with autism have difficulties with emotion regulation. Therefore, the emotion regulation strategies of children with autism in comparison with typically developing children were the target of this study. Because the development of emotion regulation skills is highly dependent on the influence of the mother, the empathy of the mother was also examined. The differences in emotion regulation strategies between children with autism and a non-clinical control group and the relationship with the empathy of the mother were tested in a laboratory session at Centre for Autism. The sample consisted of 53 mothers with their children, divided into a clinical group of children with autism (N = 19) and a non-clinical control group (N = 34). The age of the children varied between 41 and 81 months, with a mean of 56.91 months (SD = 11.27). To measure the emotion regulation strategies, the children were exposed to an anxiety-provoking situation: the Mechanical Toy...Show moreThere are indications that children with autism have difficulties with emotion regulation. Therefore, the emotion regulation strategies of children with autism in comparison with typically developing children were the target of this study. Because the development of emotion regulation skills is highly dependent on the influence of the mother, the empathy of the mother was also examined. The differences in emotion regulation strategies between children with autism and a non-clinical control group and the relationship with the empathy of the mother were tested in a laboratory session at Centre for Autism. The sample consisted of 53 mothers with their children, divided into a clinical group of children with autism (N = 19) and a non-clinical control group (N = 34). The age of the children varied between 41 and 81 months, with a mean of 56.91 months (SD = 11.27). To measure the emotion regulation strategies, the children were exposed to an anxiety-provoking situation: the Mechanical Toy Paradigm. The empathy of the mother was determined by the self-assessment questionnaire Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). Children with autism showed significantly more avoidance and non-constructive emotion regulation strategies than children in the control group. No difference was found in the use of constructive emotion regulation strategies between children with autism and the control group. Mothers from the clinical group and control group did not differ in the degree of empathy. There was no significant correlation between empathy of the mother and emotion regulation strategies of the child. Conclusion: children with autism have difficulties with regulating their emotions and this was not related to empathy of the mother. There is a need for future research on the behave of improving emotion regulation strategies for children with autism. Interventions could include co-emotion regulation of the mother, because children with autism also seem to view their mother as a source of assistance.Show less

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Emotieregulatie-strategieën van jonge kinderen met autisme en het verband met empathie van de moeder