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Wiley InterScience | ||||||
  Family RelationsVolume 56 Issue 2, Pages 135 - 146 Published Online: 22 Mar 2007 © 2009 by the National Council on Family Relations Published on behalf of the National Council on Family Relations
Abstract | References | Full Text: HTML, PDF (Size: 123K) | Related Articles | Citation Tracking  Ambiguous Loss in Families of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders* *This work was supported in part by a grant from the University of Kansas Research Development Fund. I particularly thank the families who gave so generously of their time. Thanks also to Dr. Julie Daggett, Dr. Donna Dailey, Dr. Matthew Reese, Dr. Michal Nissenbaum, and Kera Watts whose efforts were instrumental in accomplishing the research; to Lauren Keel Shinn for coding assistance; and to Cheryl Sarratt for help with manuscript preparation. Copyright 2007 by the National Council on Family Relations KEYWORDS ambiguous loss • autism • developmental disability • family adjustment ABSTRACTAbstract: Learning that a child has a lifelong developmental disorder is stressful and challenging to any family, yet it is clear that some families adapt and adjust more readily than others. In this article, it is proposed that a diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is especially likely to be experienced as ambiguous loss. Interviews with mothers of children with ASDs are used to identify whether mothers express feelings of ambiguous loss when talking about their child. Then, a specific hypothesis derived from ambiguous loss theory—that higher levels of identity ambiguity in mothers are linked to higher levels of depressive symptoms and perceived stress independent of the severity of the child's diagnosis—is tested and found to be supported. Recognition of ambiguous loss in families of children with ASDs would help professionals provide more effective support and assistance to families. Received: 03 January 2007; Accepted: 14 March 2007; | 
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