The Mental Health in Mothers with Autistic Children: A Case-Control Study in Southern Taiwan

自閉兒母親的心理健康－疾病與對照組的研究

徐畢卿(Bih-Ching Shu) ； 龍佛衛(For-Wey Lung) ； 張永源(Yong-Yuan Chang)

《The Kaohsiung Journal of Medical Sciences》 16卷6期 (2000/06) Pp. 308-314

https://doi.org/10.6452/KJMS.200006.0308

摘要

本篇研究目的是探討自閉兒母親的心理健康狀態。自閉症是一複雜的腦病變症候群，藥物幫忙有限，為嚴重的發展障礙。證據顯示自閉兒母親和有其它慢性疾病或正常兒童的母親比較起來，有更大的壓力，具發展精神疾病的高危險性。因此本研究的目的為1.調查自閉症兒母親的心理健康情形；2. 探討自閉兒母親罹患輕型精神疾病（MPM）的盛行事；3.了解自閉兒母親罹患MPM的疾病分類； 4.確立影響自閉兒母親心理健康的影響因素。研究對象為自閉兒母親30位， 67位為對照組，包括正常兒童母親（56位）及唐氏兄母親（11位） ，其在中國人健康量表（CHQ）的平均得分未有明顯差異。若以CHQ分數9為輕型精神疾病的切割點，疾病組母親中有37%≧9，而對照組母親中只有18%。邏輯迴歸分析的結果，顯示疾病組母親明顯比對照組易罹患MPM，母親的教育程度亦有顯著相關。疾病組母親CHQ分數≧9，36%診斷為憂鬱症，46%被診斷為焦慮疾病；9%同時被診斷焦慮和憂鬱症。本研究結果可作為未來發展以家庭為單位的照護模式，應用在社區。

並列摘要

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of autistic children on the mental health of their mothers. Autism is a complicated neuropsychiatric disorder. Evidence shows that mothers with autistic children experience greater stress than those having children with other chronic diseases. In this study we have 1） assessed the mental health of mothers with autistic children; 2）deter mined their prevalence of minor psychiatric morbidity （MPM）； 3） classified their MPM；and 4） determined factors related to their mental health. A case-controlled design was used to compare the mental status among mothers having children with either autistic（n=30），or Down syndrome（n= 11）and with normal children （n=56）. The mean score of the Chinese Health Questionnaire （CHQ） showed no differences between those mothers of case and control groups. Using a 9-point criterion to screen for MPM in the CHQ，more mothers（37%） in the case group ad scores ≧9 compared with the control group（18%）. Mothers of the case group had significantly higher for MPM using logistic regression analysis. The educational level was inversely related to the CHQ scores. Mothers with a CHQ score ≧9, were later diagnosed with either depression（36%） and anxiety（46%）；or anxiety and depression（9%）. A primary care model for mothers with autistic children should therefore be developed to prevent them from developing mental disorders.

並列關鍵字

autism ； Chinese Health Questionnaire (CHQ) ； mental health ； minor psychiatric morbidity (MPM)