Over the past decade the number of children under the age of three years, who were diagnosed with autism or autistic spectrum disorder is rapidly increasing in the countries of North America and Western Europe. Researchers noted a sharp deterioration in the psychological and physical health of mothers of autistic children, resulting in the high levels of stress, depression and anxiety disorders, emotional burnout. Therefore, authors of this article give a review of scientific theses and papers published over the past 15 years devoted to the study of specific features of the mental state in mothers of children with a diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorder (autism), published in North America (US and Canada) and Western Europe (United Kingdom, Netherlands, Sweden, etc.) We also highlighted a number of factors contributing to the negative emotional state of mothers and compensatory resources to help them to coping with the situation.
The article includes a literary review of scientific works devoted to the study of specific features of the motivational and personal sphere of mothers with children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), published in a number of countries in Africa and the Middle East. The author describes the difficulties faced by mothers in the process of education and treatment of their autistic children in these regions of the world; provides statistics on the extension of autism among the child population in South Africa, Saudi Arabia and Iran. The article presents studies assessing the degree of influence of religious and cultural aspects on the parents’ perception of their "special" children in Israel and Somalia.
The article includes a literature review of scientific papers devoted to the study of political, cultural and religious aspects that influence the psychological state of parents raising children diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder, and published in Southeast Asian countries (India, Indonesia, China, Malaysia, Taiwan, South Korea). The author provides statistical data on the spread of ASD among the child population of these countries; highlights the stages of adoption of a “special” child by parents; presents the features of their emotional and personal sphere; examples of compensatory resources used by parents and existing programs for providing them with psychological assistance are given.
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