Parental Attitudes, Attachment Styles, Social Networks, and Psychological Processes in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

ABSTRACT

In this study the authors used a cross-cultural approach to examine parental attitudes, attachment styles, social networks, and some of the psychological processes involved in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Fifty-two children (aged 4–11 years) took part in the study: 30 Italians (15 with ASD and 15 controls) and 22 Cubans (11 with ASD and 11 controls). Findings indicated significant differences between the two cultural groups in terms of the structure of the children's social network and parental attitudes toward their children. However, the mother–child attachment relationship and cognitive and emotional functioning of the study participants were independent of culture.

Keywords:

• autism spectrum disorder
• culture
• emotion
• parental attitudes
• social network

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors would like to thank all the children and families who participated in this study and Manuella Crini, Erika Santoro, Lara Malgieri, Danila Siravegna, Vilma Viano, Mery Cruz, Ariana Medina, and Lucia Calabuche for their assistance in data collection. They also thank two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on a previous version of this article.

This research was supported by a grant from the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Torino–Progetto Alfieri.

Notes

1. In line with other studies conducted on ASD groups (De Giacomo et al., 2009; Portoghese et al. 2010), a nonverbal IQ was obtained using the Visualization and Reasoning Battery of the Leiter-R scale. We did not administer the other battery constituting the Leiter-R scale (Attention and Memory Battery) to the children in our sample due to their poor compliance with a prolonged cognitive assessment.