RETARDATION-RELATED HEALTH SCHEMATA IN PA RENTS OF AUTISTIC-CHILDREN - A MULTINATIONAL EXPLORATIVE SURVEY

Based on a literature review on health cognitions as well as family ad aptation the construct of disability-related health schemata was devel oped and adapted to the situation of parents with autistic children; t his construct includes causal attributions, categorization of the diso rder, expectations of course, consequences, and controllability as wel l as expectations of the quality of parent-expert relationships, and o f getting supported by the health care system. In a multinational, exp loratory questionnaire study 144 parents of autistic children in Brazi l, Italy, and Germany as well as 19 Greek parents in a semi-structured interview were examined on various aspects of disability-related heal th schemata. The key findings indicate that approximately two thirds o f parents in the total sample attribute the autistic disorder onto bio logical causes, about seventy percent of them express fears about the future psychosocial integration, and about half of parents call for mo re expert competence as well as improved expert-parent relationships. In discussing the findings some theoretical aspects such as psychocult ural factors are highlighted. Discussing some practical consequences t he focus is put on the improvement of training in health care professi ons as well as family supporting measures.