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Changes in the Mother–Child Relationship During the Transition to Adulthood for Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders

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Abstract

We examined whether exiting high school was associated with changes in the mother–child relationship. Participants were 170 mothers of youth with ASD who were part of our larger longitudinal study and who exited high school during the study; data were collected four times over 7 years. Results indicated improvement in the mother–child relationship while in high school; however, improvement in all indices slowed or stopped after exit. Mothers of youth with ASD without an intellectual disability (ID) and who had more unmet service needs evidenced the least improvement after exit. Our findings provide further evidence that the years after high school exit are a time of increased risk, especially for those with ASD without ID and whose families are under-resourced.

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Acknowledgments

This project was supported by the Marino Autism Research Institute (J.L. Taylor, PI), the National Institute on Aging (R01 AG08768, M.M. Seltzer, PI) and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (P30 HD15052, E.M. Dykens, PI; P30 HD03352, M.M. Seltzer PI).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Peabody Box 40, 230 Appleton Place, Nashville, TN, 37203, USA

    Julie Lounds Taylor

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, Nashville, TN, USA

    Julie Lounds Taylor

  3. Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Marsha Mailick Seltzer

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Correspondence to Julie Lounds Taylor.

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Taylor, J.L., Seltzer, M.M. Changes in the Mother–Child Relationship During the Transition to Adulthood for Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders. J Autism Dev Disord 41, 1397–1410 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-010-1166-9

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