SEARCH Family Autism Resource Center

Dr. Jan Blacher's new research looks at stress levels of mothers of children with autism

robertw — Wed, 08 Aug 2018 22:14:47 +0000

Dr. Jan Blacher's new research looks at stress levels of mothers of children with autism robertw Wed, 08/08/2018 - 15:14 More News Tess Eyrich November 28, 2017

Anyone who has ever survived being a teenager should be well aware that parenting a teenager can be no easy feat. But factor in a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or intellectual disability (ID), and you’ll likely have the recipe for a unique set of challenges to the entire family unit.

According to autism expert Jan Blacher, a distinguished professor in the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Riverside, the effects of those challenges went largely understudied for years while medical professionals blamed mothers of children diagnosed with ASD for their kids’ disorders.

Beginning in the 1950s, doctors turned to psychiatrist Leo Kanner’s “refrigerator mother” theory as evidence that a lack of maternal warmth could essentially cause autism. It wasn’t until the mid-1960s when psychologist Bernard Rimland, among others, began to discredit Kanner’s theory, instead popularizing the idea that autism could be rooted in neurological development, or even genetics.

Decades later, the race to find autism-linked genes continues. But it doesn’t yet benefit families of kids with ASD, said Blacher and her research colleague, UCLA’s Bruce L. Baker.

Within those families, the impacts of raising children with autism hit mothers especially hard, resulting in what Blacher and Baker refer to as “collateral effects.”

In a study recently published online in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, the researchers found that mothers of teenagers with ASD or ID reported higher levels of stress and other negative psychological symptoms — think depression or anxiety — than mothers of teenagers with typical development, or TD.

Those levels climbed even higher when teenagers with ASD or ID also showed signs of clinical-level disruptive behavior disorders.

To find out how such disorders affected mothers, Blacher and Baker surveyed 160 13-year-olds and their families. Eighty-four of the study’s teenage participants were classified as having typical development, or TD; 48 as having ASD; and 28 as having ID.

Jan Blacher

As the director of UCR’s SEARCH (Support, Education, Advocacy, Resources, Community, and Hope) Family Autism Resource Center, Blacher works with kids of all ages with ASD. She said this study, however, is special because it focuses on a pool of adolescents who are the same age.

“Usually when studies have looked at the impacts of autism on families, the children involved have reflected wide ranges of ages,” she said. “Here, we’ve eliminated the variance related to developmental stage.”

Blacher and Baker first assessed mothers and their 13-year-olds during in-person visits at their research site, and later asked mothers to complete separate questionnaires privately to measure youth behavior problems and parental well-being.

“ASD group mothers scored highest on each of the two distress indicators,” the researchers wrote, adding that ASD group mothers’ levels of stress and psychological symptoms did not differ significantly from those of ID group mothers.

The findings harken back to research demonstrating that parents of children with ASD have reported levels of stress consistent with those of individuals who experience post-traumatic stress disorder.

What’s more, mothers’ levels of parenting-related stress and other psychological symptoms were amplified by the presence of one or more clinical-level behavior disorders, Blacher and Baker said.

“The most common disruptive behavior disorder is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, but children with autism can also show signs of oppositional defiant disorder, depression, and anxiety,” Blacher said. “The disorders that are most disruptive to parents are those we describe as ‘acting out’ disorders and involve behaviors like not following rules, hitting, screaming, arguing, lashing out, and breaking things.”

Still, the researchers emphasized that parents who face childrearing challenges need not resign themselves to lifetimes of mounting stress. The mothers they studied who demonstrated more resilience had one thing in common: an optimistic outlook on life.

Using the Life Orientation Test, which assesses individuals’ optimism or pessimism, Blacher and Baker found that mothers who were more optimistic — believing that good rather than bad things would happen to them — experienced fewer negative impacts associated with parenting a child with ASD or ID and comorbid behavior disorders.

In those cases, a more positive outlook on life became a buffer against parenting-related stressors.

“It’s in the face of stress when optimism really becomes important,” Blacher said. “A mom that has a high level of optimism is going to be able to better weather stress and be better prepared mentally for the challenges ahead.”

This research was funded by a grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, one of the National Institutes of Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

This article was first published in UCR Today, full piece here.

Research

Student spotlight: Yasamine Bolourian Ph.D. '18

robertw — Wed, 08 Aug 2018 20:51:30 +0000

Student spotlight: Yasamine Bolourian Ph.D. '18 robertw Wed, 08/08/2018 - 13:51 More News Julie Porter October 16, 2017

When Yasamine Bolourian decided to pursue a Ph.D., she wanted to commit to a program that “prepared students to be highly-competent leaders in their field,” and in her case, engage in cutting-edge research in special education and autism. After learning that UCR was home to some of the nation’s leading experts in autism research and the highly regarded SEARCH Family Autism Resource Center, GSOE quickly became Yasamine’s top choice. Now, three years into her Special Education doctorate, she has been trained in gold standard autism assessments at SEARCH, has co-authored on several studies, and presented research with GSOE’s Dr. Jan Blacher, Distinguished Professor and director of SEARCH, and SEARCH assistant director, Dr. Katherine Stavropoulos.

Tell us about your experience as a graduate student researcher at SEARCH Family Autism Resource Center, and some of the projects the center has been working on? SEARCH is truly unique as it is the UC-system’s first no-cost screening clinic for individuals suspected of having autism. Since day one, I wanted to be actively engaged in practice at the clinic. As part of the SEARCH team under Dr. Blacher’s supervision, I have had various educational and clinical opportunities, working closely with children and families from diverse backgrounds. It has been particularly inspiring to interact with families during a very critical period in their lives and, consequently, continue to cultivate empathy and become more attuned to their lived experiences.

More recently, we have embarked on new projects and collaborations that have expanded our reach. SEARCH and the UCR School of Medicine have partnered to improve access to care and receipt of services for underserved minority families in the community, and we have had an integral addition to the SEARCH team, Dr. Katherine Stavropoulos. Among other notable titles, Dr. Stavropoulos is an assistant professor at the GSOE and a clinical psychologist, who brings invaluable insight and perspective into the additional co-occurring issues that children in this population face. Training under her wing has vastly broadened my content knowledge in the field of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

What drew you to the field of special education? I was drawn to special education because of the desire to enhance the quality of life for students with autism and other special needs, as well as their families. These populations have well-documented substantial academic, social, and behavioral challenges that require attention in both the home and school environments.

Tell us a little about your own research interests, and what you are currently working on? My research focuses on understanding the social and emotional development of youth with developmental disabilities, specializing in autism spectrum disorder. Social-emotional issues in children with autism are frequently reported by both parents and teachers, and therefore permeate home and school systems. My research explores the manifestation of these issues (e.g., social deficits, anxiety, behavioral problems) in order to help researchers, families, and educators understand the difficulties experienced by youth with autism.

While the bulk of my research has been focused on children with ASD, I envision an increase in research attention on adults, a population that has been relatively neglected in the field. In line with this, I am interested in understanding and supporting students with autism in the postsecondary setting. I have been fortunate to engage in research with Dr. Blacher at the GSOE that investigates the experiences of university students with autism and ADHD, as well as faculty knowledge about developmental disabilities, through a project entitled “Autism 101.”

What have been some of the highlights of being a graduate student at UCR? One of the many highlights of being a graduate student at UCR has been receiving mentorship and collaborating with faculty across the GSOE. In particular, I have had the opportunity to work with Dr. Keith Widaman, Dr. Marsha Ing, and Dr. Robert Ream on a variety of projects that have greatly added value to my graduate research and training experiences.

What advice would you give an incoming graduate student? “It takes a village to raise a graduate student:” My advice to incoming students is to take full advantage of UCR’s exceptional resources and faculty. For instance, the Graduate Division offers a wide array of resources to meet student needs. Early on, I participated in the Graduate Student Mentorship Program, as well as utilized group workshops and individual consultations offered at Grad Quant and the Writing Center. These programs have been tremendously helpful in answering questions related to coursework, personal research, and general graduate school survival skills. More recently, I have been making use of Dissertation Occasion, which provides students who are working on their dissertation with the space and time (and coffee!) for dedicated writing hours.

Best advice someone has given you as a graduate student? Don’t forget about self-care! For me, I try to see my friends and family as much as possible, and exercise – sort of…

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