Perceived stigma, family stress and alexithymia in mothers of children with development abnormalities

The aim of this study is to make a comparison between the alexithymia levels, family stress and the perception of stigma of the mothers having children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), mental retardation (MR) and learning disabilities (LD) diagnosis. Also, the relationship between the perception of stigma, family stress and alexithymia was examined in this study. Mothers of children who receive education in special education and rehabilitation centers in Istanbul between the years 2019-2020 with ASD, MR diagnosis formed the study group in this research whereas mothers of LD group formed the comparison group. 262 mothers participated in this study. The information about sociodemographic characteristics of the participants in the study was completed by the researcher by using 'Sociodemographic and Clinical Data Form' in face to face interviews. The stigma that the participants perceived was evaluated by 'Parents Internalized Stigma of Mental İllness Scale' (PISMI-TR), the family stress by 'The Questionnaire on Resource and Stress'(TQRS), alexithymia levels by 'Toronto Alexithymia Scale'(TAS) and the autism rate of the children by 'Childhood Autism Rating Scale'(CARS). As a result of this study, it was found that the total PISMI, TQRS and TAS scores and the base test points of mothers of children with LD were statistically and meaningfully lower compared to the mothers of children with ASD and MR. Total scores of PISMI-TR scale demonstrate that the scores of mothers of children with serious ASD were statistically and meaningfully higher compared to mothers of children with MR and LD. Meaningful and positive relationship was found between internalized stigmatization, family stress and alexithymia points. Keywords: Autism, stigmatization, family stress, alexithymia.