Social-emotional functioning in planned lesbian families: does biological versus non-biological mother status matter? An Italian pilot study.

To date, few studies have investigated the social-emotional functioning of planned lesbian families, wherein only one parent is the biological mother of the child. We examined if being a biological versus non-biological mother plays a role in planned lesbian couple functioning and mother-infant play interactions. The present study analyzes the attachment state of mind, couple alliance, parenting stress, and emotional availability in a sample of 40 mothers (20 biological and 20 non-biological). The results showed that mothers' life-long attachment experiences and related mental states of mind, rather than biological relatedness between the parent and child, matter in a mother and child's emotional involvement in parent-child interaction. Furthermore, the results confirmed the different impact of the perceived quality of the couple alliance on biological and non-biological mothers. The findings obtained elucidated what counts in this new family typology, and constitute a heuristic solicitation for future studies to better understand the key factors and mechanisms implied in social-emotional functioning.

Addressing parental stress and adolescents' behavioral problems through an attachment-based program: an intervention study

The primary concern of this study is to address parenting stress and adolescents' behavioral and emotional problems through an attachment based parenting intervention (Connect parents group) for parents of adolescents, in particular to test whether this intervention led to reduced levels of parenting stress, and adolescents' emotional and behavioral problems. 44 parents (33 mothers and 11 fathers; M= 50.4, SD= 4.9) of adolescents (M= 15 years, SD= 1.4) were randomly assigned to one of two groups: An attachment based intervention group (Connect), or a wait-list control group. They were assessed before and immediately after the ten-week intervention. Outcome measures were self-reported parenting stress, and multi-informant assessments of adolescents' emotional and behavioral problems. Compared to the control group, parents completing the Connect program reported significant reductions in their adolescents' externalizing behavior problems at treatment completion. Mediation model showed that, among parents completing the Connect program reductions in parental stress were mediated through decreases in adolescents' externalizing behavior problems. Decrease in adolescents' externalizing behavioral problems affected parental stress experienced in caring. These preliminary results underscore the importance of helping parents of adolescents to reduce levels of parenting stress through effective interventions able to curtail adolescents' emotional and behavioral problems. Furthermore, they provide additional evidence for the effectiveness of the Connect program and offer insights into the potential mechanisms that underlie change

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The Thorn in the Dyad: A Vision on Parent-Child Relationship in Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Parents and children form a family: their characteristics balance personal and family well-being with healthy levels of stress. Research on parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) demonstrated that higher levels of parental stress are associated with communication impairment, a core symptom of ASD. The aim of this article is to discuss the connection between non-verbal communication impairment and parental psychological distress, in families with children with ASD. The interaction between atypical communication and distress of parents likely determines a cascade effect on the parent-child dyad; in fact, it decreases the quality and frequency of interactions, preventing the establishment of a healthy parent-child relationship and leading to a series of collateral problems. To this perspective, guiding the parents to reframe their children's atypical communicative behaviour can relieve parental stress and re-program the interactional routine. This observation stresses the importance of interventions centred on the dyad, especially during early development and soon after the diagnosis, when the communicative impairment may be extremely severe.

Examining the Impact of Maternal Individual Features on Children's Behavioral Problems in Adoptive Families: The Role of Maternal Temperament and Neurobiological Markers.

The first year after adoption constitutes a sensitive period for both strengthening the new emotional bond in the family and checking its appropriate development by adoption services. A key variable for children's catch-up are adoptive parents' socioemotional and individual features. The aim of this study is to investigate links between adoptive mothers' individual features and behavioral problems in their children in the first year after adoption placement, by testing the moderating role of both age at adoption and maternal genetic polymorphisms. Seventy-eight adoptive mothers completed temperament and genetic measures. Mothers showed a specific pattern of interaction between basic temperament traits and genetic markers in their assessment of children's behavioral problems; dopamine D4 receptor gene and children's age at adoption are two moderators in the association in which mothers' temperament was affecting the evaluation of their children's behavioral problems. Findings highlight a still undervalued area of parenting resources in the process of post-institutionalized children's catch-up after adoption placement, by showing how individual features count in the commonly measured variable of children's behavioral and emotional problems. This could help in orienting identification and choice of key variables for family assessment after adoption placement, thus contributing in fostering children's healthy development.

Physiological and self-report responses of parents of children with autism spectrum disorder to children crying.

Little is known about the physiological response of parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to crying of children who have already received the diagnosis of ASD. This study aimed to compare cardiac dynamics via Inter-Beat Interval (IBI) and self-reported emotional states of parents of children with ASD and of parents with typically developing (TD) children while listening to crying of children with ASD (ASD cry) and of typically developing children (TD cry). Analyses revealed higher IBI in parents of children with ASD than IBI in parents of TD children while listening to both cry groups; however no differences on self-reported emotional states were observed. Parents of children with ASD were calmer (higher IBI) than parents of TD children while listening to crying. However, ASD cry did not elicit different IBI compared to TD cry. ASD cry and TD cry were differentiated based on parents' self-responses about what they felt during the listening of crying, their physiological responses showed no differences. These results highlight the similarities and differences between self-reported emotional states and physiological responses of parents of children with ASD, and also point to the importance of monitoring parents' physiological responses in addition to their subjective responses.

Treatment-related changes in children's communication impact on maternal satisfaction and psychological distress.

BACKGROUND: Parents of children with autism have been found to have reduced psychological well-being that has usually been linked to the stress related to managing their child's symptoms. As children's behavior and cognitive functioning are subject to change when suitable early intervention programs are put in place, it is plausible that positive treatment-related changes in the child will have a positive impact on parental distress. AIMS: We undertook an individual differences study to investigate whether maternal psychological distress is affected by the outcomes of children receiving intervention. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: The participants comprised 43 mothers of preschool children with ASD enrolled in an early intervention program for 12 months. OUTCOME AND RESULTS: Child and family factors were linked to maternal psychological distress. However treatment-related changes in children's communication, as assessed on the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales II, and parenting satisfaction uniquely contributed to psychological distress above and beyond other factors. A mediation analysis indicated that mothers whose children make treatment gains in communication skills experience lower levels of psychological distress as a consequence of higher levels of parenting satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: The findings highlight improvements in everyday adaptive communication skills in children with ASD impact on mothers' satisfaction and distress.