Suporte social informal em mães de crianças com transtorno do espectro autista

Abstract

Social support is necessary throughout the life of people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as it favors the development of appropriate skills and strategies and provides quality of life for them and their families. Autistic children who have access to social support experience less stress and stress-related illnesses, including anxiety and depression and the aim of this study was to analyze the formal and informal support perceived by mothers of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder and their relationship with the mental health of these mothers. SOLACE-Brazil is a cross sectional survey that involved a final sample of 1,924 mothers of children diagnosed with ASD. Clinical and sociodemographic information was acquired by publishing the online form on social media. Perceived social support was measured using the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) and mental health status, using the DASS-21 instrument. The first product of this thesis is an article that aimed to determine perceived social support in mothers of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder and identify the sociodemographic variables that could be associated with low perceived social support. We observed that the higher the family income, the lower the chance of having low social support, regardless of other confounding variables (OR). :0.54 95% CI: 0.34-0.85). Furthermore, unemployment was independently associated with low overall social support (OR:1.49 95% CI: 1.13 1.96) and divorced mothers and Those with more than one child with ASD were more likely to have low perceived social support. Assessment of the socioeconomic situation is essential for the social support of families of children and adolescents with ASD, which can impact the quality of life of these families. The second product, also an article, aims to determine the interrelationships between the different predictors of the mental health of mothers of children with ASD and the social support they perceive. The results demonstrate that of the 1924 mothers of autistic children, 1100 (57.17%) had some degree of impairment in their mental health status, using the DASS-21 instrument. The presence of anxiety and depression, both separately, was observed in 14.50% and 6.86%. The association of anxiety and depression was present in 35.81 of the mothers interviewed. The assessment of social support in relation to mothers' monthly income showed a tendency for better levels of perception of social support with increasing income. The results of the products of this thesis highlight the importance of providing adequate support to families with children with ASD in different social contexts, focusing mainly on the development of effective employment programs and the guarantee of a minimum income that allows parents to provide adequate care for their children.