ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Autism
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1569928
This article is part of the Research TopicWomen in Psychiatry 2025: AutismView all articles
Exploring motherhood dilemmas and coping strategies among mothers of children with autism: a qualitative study in mainland China
Provisionally accepted
Jun Zhou*
Yuan hong Ning*- Shandong University, Jinan, China
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Background: Under the traditional division of gender roles in China, mothers often shoulder more responsibilities for caring for children with autism. This article is the first attempt to explore the motherhood practices of mothers of autistic children. Method: Through in-depth interviews with eight mothers, revealing three major themes: (1) the mothering dilemmas encountered by mothers of children with autism, (2) why mothers of autistic children choose to stay the course, and (3) the maternal adjustment practices of mothers of children with autism.Results: This study uncovers the challenges encountered during the nascent phases of these mothers' parenting journeys. However, these mothers showed remarkable resilience and adaptability to these challenges. They also developed various motherhood adjustment strategies to cope with these dilemmas.The findings emphasise the maternal resilience demonstrated by Chinese mothers of children with autism in the parenting process and the sources of this resilience. They provide new perspectives for understanding this group's parenting practices, informing related policy development, and supporting service provision.
Keywords: Mothers of autistic children, motherhood dilemmas, coping strategies, Maternal resilience, qualitative research
Received: 02 Feb 2025; Accepted: 20 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhou and Ning. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Jun Zhou, Shandong University, Jinan, China
Yuan hong Ning, Shandong University, Jinan, China
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