Psychopathology of the Parents of Autistic Children Based on the Clinical Personality Disorders

Shahrokh Amiri*, Fatemeh Ranjbar, Roshanak Hatami, Habibeh Barzegar, Salman Abdi and Ali Baharigharehgoz

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the psychopathology of parents of autistic children based on clinical personality disorders.

Methodology: In this is a cross-sectional study,130 parents of autistic children were selected from autism community rehabilitation centers in Tabriz, Iran and 154 parents of the mentally healthy children were selected as controls. Diagnostic interview based on DSM-IV-TR criteria was used to diagnose autism by two child and adolescent psychiatrists. The Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III) was used to evaluate parents’ personality profiles.

Results: The frequency of having personality disorders was higher in the parents of autistic children than controls (p<0.01).The most common psychiatric conditions among parents of autistic children were melancholic personality, persistent depression and negativism (44.6%, 29.2% and 25.4% respectively). Alcohol and substance use and antisocial personality were the least prevalent. Clinical patterns of personality disorders (avoidance, depressed, sadist, negativist, masochist), severe personality pathology (schizotypal, borderline, paranoid), clinical syndromes (generalized anxiety, somatoform, bipolar, persistent depression, PTSD), and severe clinical syndrome (thought disorder, delusional disorder) were higher in parents of autistic children than controls (p<0.05) and prevalence of histrionic personality disorder was lower (p<0.01). 

Conclusion: Parents of autistic children have higher rate of psychopathology.

Keywords: Psychopathology; Parents; Autistic disorder; Prevalence; Personality disorders

Published on: Aug 11, 2016 Pages: 1-5

Full Text PDF Full Text HTML DOI: 10.17352/apt.000001
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