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Child Challenging Behavior Influences Maternal Mental Health and Relationship Quality Over Time in Fragile X Syndrome

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Abstract

Parenting children with neurodevelopmental disabilities is often challenging. Biological mothers of children with Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) may be susceptible to increased risk of mental health problems. This study examined the longitudinal relationships between maternal mental health, child challenging behaviors, and mother–child relationship quality in children and adolescents with FXS. Fifty-five mother–child dyads were followed from childhood into adolescence. The findings suggest that child challenging behaviors, maternal mental health, and mother–child relationship quality were stable during that period. Additionally, elevated levels of child challenging behaviors negatively impacted maternal mental health. Finally, child challenging behaviors, in combination with maternal mental health, influenced mother–child relationship quality. Clinical implications are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Shelley Bredin-Oja from the Fragile X Lab at the University of Kansas for her wonderful data management, Katie Schneider for assistance with an earlier version of this study, and Lesa Hoffman for her invaluable knowledge of statistical analyses. Finally, we thank the families for their continued participation and support in our ongoing study.

Funding

This study is supported by the following NICHD Grants: P30 HD00310, P30 HD02538, and R01 HD084563 (PIs REDACTED). The first author is supported by NICDC T32 DC000052 (PI: Mabel Rice).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Child Language Doctoral Program, University of Kansas, 1000 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, KS, 66045, USA

    Heather Fielding-Gebhardt

  2. Department of Speech-Language-Hearing: Sciences and Disorders, University of Kansas, Lawrence, USA

    Steven F. Warren & Nancy C. Brady

Authors
  1. Heather Fielding-Gebhardt
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  2. Steven F. Warren
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  3. Nancy C. Brady
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Heather Fielding-Gebhardt. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Heather Fielding-Gebhardt, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Heather Fielding-Gebhardt.

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The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional review board (University of Kansas IRB, study reference number 17261) and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. Mothers gave informed consent for themselves and their children.

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Fielding-Gebhardt, H., Warren, S.F. & Brady, N.C. Child Challenging Behavior Influences Maternal Mental Health and Relationship Quality Over Time in Fragile X Syndrome. J Autism Dev Disord 50, 779–797 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04308-2

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