Relationship between Parental Acceptance and Social Interaction of Children with ASD

Received: 26-Aug-2022, Manuscript No. CSRP-22-75860; Editor assigned: 30-Aug-2022, Pre QC No. CSRP-22-75860 (PQ); Reviewed: 15-Sep-2022, QC No. CSRP-22-75860; Revised: 22-Sep-2022, Manuscript No. CSRP-22-75860 (R); Published: 30-Sep-2022, DOI: 10.3371/CSRP.AFAS.093022

Introduction

A disruption in the capacity for social contact is going to be emphasized as one of the signs of autism during the course of this investigation. Autism is characterized by significant deficits in children's social interaction behavior. Autistic children will have difficulties in social contact, which will constrain and limit their ability to engage with their surroundings. This perspective is fair due to the fact that children with autism have difficulties in learning and acting in social situations. Children that have autism have a more difficult time participating in social transactions, which is a lens through which they perceive the world around them because of the presence of obstacles to interact [1,2].

An individual's ability to influence, modify, or enhance the conduct of other people or vice versa may be attributed to their level of participation in social interaction, which is the process through which individuals develop connections with one or more others [3]. Children will develop the ability to comprehend and sympathize with others as well as engage with them if they have a social interest. Additionally, this will help developmental skills that the youngsters may not have developed to their full potential. Because it is connected to the manner in which children construct connections with other people, social interaction serves as a connection point for children and the world that surrounds them. Interactions with other people are directly linked to the development of children's communication and language skills in typically developing youngsters [4].

Children on the autism spectrum do not make eye contact with their caregivers or other people, nor do they smile or display other signs of familiarity. The early phases of development may be challenging for children with autism, especially in terms of their capacity for social engagement [5]. Children will not be able to acquire a greater range of information from the social encounters they have with other people if they have a reduced capacity for interaction. Children with autism who attend school will almost certainly have challenging interactions with their teachers and friends at school. As a result, these children are less likely to be able to participate in social activities with their peers, which means that these children will lack social knowledge. As a direct consequence of this, youngsters are unable to grow as they should [6,7].

Autism is characterized by the presence of at least two symptoms, one of which is a disruption in nonverbal behavior, such as eye contact, facial expressions, body postures, and gestures to regulate social interaction [8]. The absence of social interaction in autistic children is characterized by the appearance of at least two symptoms. The inability to form peer relationships that are suitable for the level of development, the absence of the spontaneity to share pleasures, interests, or accomplishments with other people (for example, the absence of showing, carrying, or pointing at objects that are interesting), and finally, the absence of social or emotional reciprocity are all symptoms of this disorder. Children who have autism are unable to interpret social cues, such as other people's facial expressions or body language, including smiling [9]. As a result, kids do not acquire the ability to copy and have a reduced capacity to react appropriately to the behaviors that we anticipate from them.

A child's diet that excludes substances that are not in line with the requirements of the child, behavioral psychotherapy that focuses on communication, social, and emotional interaction, and parental participation that includes acceptance, support, and parenting techniques that are applied to children are some of the factors that can help an autistic child flourish and continue to develop normally [10]. To assist autistic children in interacting socially with others, the ones who are closest to them need to make an effort or provide assistance. Therefore, parental acceptance is essential in defining the social skills that autistic children are able to acquire for their own well-being, since this is a factor that affects how autistic children develop [11].

Acceptance is a fundamental component that has a significant influence on the degree to which autistic children are able to grow successfully. Children with autism will benefit from having parents who are accepting of their condition since they are the children's closest partners. Therefore, parents take on a pivotal role in the ability of autistic children to succeed in reaching the ideal stage of development, which, in this instance, is the component of development that pertains to social contact [12]. The form of parental acceptance is a condition in which parents are able to understand the condition of the child as it is, understand the child's habits, realize what the child can and cannot do, understand the causes of the child's negative behavior and their positive behavior, form a strong inner bond, and seek alternative treatments for children. A good attitude, an acknowledgement or admiration of individual ideals, as well as an acknowledgment of his actions are other characteristics of acceptance [13].

Acceptance from one's parents often starts to develop somewhere in the early stages of a child's pregnancy. If a parent discovers that their kid falls somewhere on the autism spectrum during the newborn period, their next step is to plan how they will interact with their autistic child [14]. It is up to the parents to decide whether or not they will tolerate their autistic child's presence in their home. When a kid has a developmental condition, such as autism, it is not uncommon for the parent to experience a wide range of emotions, including astonishment, disappointment, guilt, anger, rejection, and embarrassment. The majority of feelings that are instilled in children by their parents are unhappy ones. These negative feelings cause parents of autistic children to conceal their children from society and restrict the social opportunities available to them as a kind of rejection of the shame associated with the child's existence. The rejection of one's children by one's parents is characterized by a chilly and unloving attitude, as well as hostility and aggression, indifference and ignoring, rejecting and discriminating, and indifference and ignoring [15,16].

Children who are subjected to a variety of forms of rejection may not grow to their full potential. Obviously, this has a detrimental effect not only on the parents themselves but also on the children who have autism. As a consequence of this, youngsters grow more isolated from their surroundings, which makes the circumstance for autistic children even more difficult. Inadequate levels of self-confidence are often developed in children as a consequence of interactions with their parents and other adults in early infancy that constrain their fondness for them in some way [17].

In other words, children learn that their acceptability is contingent on structuring behavior in specific ways and expressing feelings exclusively with certain expressions. This means that children learn that their acceptance is dependent on their ability to conform [18]. Children's negative impulses and sentiments, as well as their self-concept and self-confidence, become warped when they are given the impression that affection and love are conditional on certain outcomes. Parents who choose to disown their children are unable to form and sustain positive relationships with their offspring. The inability of parents to demonstrate acceptance of their children leads to children developing lower levels of self-confidence and a sense that they contribute nothing of value to the world [19]. As a result, children choose to isolate themselves from their surroundings, which impedes their capacity for healthy social development.

Parents need to cultivate an environment of unconditional admiration for their children in order to assist their children in reaching their full potential. This means providing a situation in which youngsters are aware that they will be appreciated no matter what it is that they say or do. Children who are shown acceptance by their parents are more likely to form a stable pattern of self-image and mature into individuals who have a happy outlook on life [20]. But is the acceptance of autistic children by their parents have a substantial impact on the amount of social engagement they have with other people? As a result, autistic children were chosen to participate in this research since difficulties with social contact are one of the primary challenges autistic people face from birth [21]. This indicates that autistic children do not exhibit any desire in creating connections with other people, as seen by a lack of social curiosity, reciprocity, and spontaneity in play. To put it another way, autistic youngsters tend to withdraw socially by being cold and disinterested toward others in the majority of scenarios. There is not a single piece of research that precisely investigates the relationship between parental acceptance and any facet of the autism triad [22]. As a result, the researcher had an interest in determining whether or not these items may be connected to one another.

Methodology

The objective of this study was to investigate, through the use of the correlational research method, the nature of the connection that exists between parental acceptance and the degree to which autistic children participate in social contact [23]. Specifically, the focus of this investigation was on the degree to which autistic children interact with other people. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether or not there is a link between the degree to which autistic children's parents accept them as they are and the amount to which the autistic children's social interaction occurs. The technique of sampling known as purposive sampling was the one that was used in the course of this inquiry. The instrument that was utilized in the research project to act as a measuring tool for the variable of parental acceptance was the scale of parental approval. This instrument was a part of the research study [24,25]. It is suggested to the participants that they choose one category from each statement on this scale that most accurately depicts the degree of intensity of their actions or the replies they provide about themselves when placed in a certain situation. This method is a kind of self-reporting in its own right. Data were gathered by questionnaire.

Results and Discussion

Normality test

The One Sample Kolmogorov Smirnov Test was used in order to carry out the test while SPSS version 16 for Windows was utilized. If the probability (p) is greater than 0.05, then the distribution is said to be normal. The value of 0.419 for the normality test conducted on parental acceptability indicates that p is larger than 0.05. As a result, a normal distribution was determined to exist for the respondents' parental approval ratings shown in Table 1.

Linearity test

The one-way analysis of variance was used for the linearity test, which included more than one test variable. If the value of Sig. is less than 0.05, we may say that the data coming from the parental acceptance scale and the social interaction scale have a linear relationship.

Because the probability value (p) or Sig. 0.041 or less than 0.05, the findings of the linearity test between the parental acceptance scale and the social interaction scale were deemed linear. This was due to the fact that these values were less than 0.05 shown in Table 2.

Hypothesis testing

Following the completion of the normality and linearity tests, the testing of the hypothesis was carried out. This hypothesis test was computed by using Pearson's product-moment correlation and doing so with the assistance of the SPSS version 16 tool for Windows.

The hypothesis for this research project claims that there is a substantial connection between the acceptance of autistic children by their parents and the amount of social engagement that these children have. The correlation between these two variables has a coefficient of 0.525 or higher, which is bigger than 0.05, and a value of Sig. (1-tailed) of 0.000 or lower than 0.01. If the value of Sig. (1-tailed) is high enough, then the study hypothesis may be considered valid shown in Table 3.

According to the findings of the experiments that were conducted to test the hypotheses, there is a correlation that is both positive (r=0.525) and significant (p=0.000) between parental acceptance and the amount of social engagement that children who have autism have. In a nutshell, the hypothesis made use of in this investigation was correct. This demonstrates that autistic children will have better levels of social contact if their parents are more accepting of their condition. The acceptance of children by their parents is a sort of support for children that may improve the number of social contacts youngsters have. It is considered that embracing conduct shown by parents toward their children has a therapeutic impact on youngsters, which aids in the process of healing. The degree to which parents accept their autistic or schizophrenic kid may have an impact on the child's social and emotional development.

Increasing the social motivation of autistic children can be accomplished by assisting autistic children in developing their self-confidence, modeling healthy parenting behaviors, cultivating a pleasant environment for children, and interspersing their education with activities that are straightforward and uncomplicated. Social connection in autistic children may be successfully increased by providing prizes and encouraging the youngsters to participate in activities together. The actions that are being discussed here are psychological and physical acceptance from one's parents. This indicates that the actions taken by parents as a kind of acceptance might increase interaction between autistic children and other individuals. In addition, autistic children who are accepted by their parents do not experience the stress and anxiety that prevents them from developing interactions with their environment. This is important because when autistic children are anxious, they do not demonstrate a significant response to their surroundings.

In addition, the acceptance of children by their parents has a substantial impact on the children's subsequent social development. Children are more likely to develop their social skills and engage fully in their surroundings if their parents exhibit warm conduct toward them as a kind of acceptance. Children's capacity for healthy social development is correlated favourably with the degree to which they are accepted by their parents. Children that are welcomed into a community are often cheerful, well-socialized, cooperative, sociable, and loyal, as well as emotionally stable. Children who are liked and accepted will have an easier time adjusting to new situations, will have normal social and emotional development, and will have a good dose of positive self-confidence. For this reason, children are more likely to feel at ease in their surroundings when their parents exhibit warm conduct, demonstrate care for them, and provide numerous supports for them to seek therapy. and cultivate strong ties with the people around you.

According to the findings of the calculation, parental approval contributed up to 27.56% toward increasing the amount of social engagement experienced by autistic children. This demonstrates that parental acceptance of autistic children has a favourable influence on the children's ability to grow to their full potential. The remainder, which accounts for as much as 72.44% of the various factors, contributed to the development of the level of social interaction of children who have autism. These factors include the participation of peers, the participation of children in psychotherapy, and the active role played by parents.

The psychological acceptance of autistic children by their parents has a mean value of 2.99, making it the most important feature of parental acceptance of autistic children. Acceptance on a psychological level involves providing the kid with attention and support, showing an interest in their activities, and actively seeking information about the child's condition and how they are being handled. Second, the criterion of physical acceptability received a score of 2.90. Acceptance by a parent is said to be physical when the parent demonstrates loving behaviour by engaging in activities with the kid, displaying love, and being consistently close to the child. Verbal acceptance comes in last and has the lowest order in terms of the feature of parental approval known as mean value, which is 2.85. Verbal acceptance may be shown to children via dialogue between parents and children, bragging, and openly expressing love verbally. The percentage of psychological acceptance aspects is larger than other acceptance aspects because the amount of psychological acceptance questions on the questionnaire is higher, reaching as high as 18 items. This is the reason why the percentage of psychological acceptance aspects is higher.

The researcher came to the conclusion that since the respondent was not immediately monitored by the researcher while completing the questionnaire, the respondent was free to consult with other persons about their responses to the questionnaire. In addition, the response that you provide to one statement could be influenced by the response that you give to another statement. In order to prevent respondents from providing false information on the questionnaire, the process should be timed and immediately controlled by the researcher.

Conclusion

There is a connection (r=0.525), in the form of a positive correlation, between the acceptance of autistic children by their parents and the amount of social engagement they have. The correlation is quite strong and significant (Sig. 1 tailed=0.000), which indicates that the correlation obtained in the analysis results shows the same relationship in the population. Since the correlation was obtained in the analysis results, this means that the population is similar to the analysis results. In order for children to be able to grow normally, it is required of parents that they would encourage the people closest to them to take part in accepting autistic children and stimulating and developing social relationships for autistic children via acceptance. When doing more study, it is advised that, in addition to parental approval, other factors, such as parental communication patterns, peer interactions, and so on, be taken into consideration. As a result, additional elements that have to do with the development of autistic children are disclosed, which might contribute to the entire body of information about the treatment of autistic children.

Acknowledgement

This work was funded by the University of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, under grant NO (UJ-22-SHR-21). The authors, therefore, acknowledge with thanks the university of Jeddah for its technical and financial support.

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Citation: Al Taqatqa, Firas Ahmad Saleem." Relationship between Parental Acceptance and Social Interaction of Children with ASD.” Clin Schizophr Relat Psychoses 16 (2022). Doi: 10.3371/CSRP.AFAS.093022

Copyright: © 2022 Al Taqatqa FAS. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.