Previous research has generally found lower wellbeing levels among parents of autistic children that were related to fewer positive and more negative parenting behaviours. However, these relationships have not yet been studied before a formal autism diagnosis is given. The present study investigates wellbeing (including positive mood, vitality, and general interest) and its relationships with a range of parenting behaviours among two groups of mothers with children at elevated likelihood (EL) of autism: mothers of younger siblings of children on the autism spectrum (‘siblings’; n = 81) and very or extremely prematurely born children (‘preterms’; n = 40). Growth curves were modelled to investigate whether wellbeing and EL group were associated with (change in) reported parenting behaviours between 10 and 24 months of child’s age. As expected, we found more stability than change in parenting behaviours, and more similarities than group differences in parenting behaviours and wellbeing. Mothers generally reported more disciplinary behaviours when their child grew older, in line with general population findings. Initial levels of supportive behaviours were equally high among mothers of siblings and preterms, but only mothers of preterms reported an increase over time. Wellbeing levels were largely comparable to those of a matched subsample from the general population, contradicting previous findings. Contrary to our hypotheses, wellbeing was not associated with fewer positive or more negative parenting behaviours. This is encouraging, as all children benefit from supportive and responsive behaviours.

此前的研究普遍发现，自闭症儿童父母的幸福感较低，这与积极和消极的养育行为较少有关。然而，在正式诊断自闭症之前，这些关系尚未得到研究。本研究调查了两组孩子患自闭症可能性较高（EL）的母亲的幸福感（包括积极情绪、活力和总体兴趣）及其与一系列养育行为的关系：孩子患有自闭症的弟弟妹妹的母亲谱系（“兄弟姐妹”；n  = 81）和极早产或极早产儿（“早产儿”；n  = 40）。对生长曲线进行建模，以调查幸福感和 EL 组是否与报告的 10 至 24 个月龄儿童养育行为（变化）相关。正如预期的那样，我们发现养育行为的稳定性多于变化，养育行为和幸福感的相似性多于群体差异。随着孩子年龄的增长，母亲们普遍报告了更多的纪律行为，这与一般人群的调查结果一致。兄弟姐妹和早产儿母亲的最初支持行为水平同样高，但只有早产儿母亲报告随着时间的推移有所增加。幸福水平在很大程度上与普通人群的匹配子样本相当，这与之前的研究结果相矛盾。与我们的假设相反，幸福感与积极或消极的养育行为减少无关。这是令人鼓舞的，因为所有儿童都受益于支持性和响应性行为。