[Family development conditions of autistic children before foster home care: a comparison with families of hyperkinetic, emotionally disturbed and antisocial children].

With reference to psychogenetic autism models a retrospective study investigates, if autistic children more frequently than children with other disturbances grow up in a family-environment, which is characterized (a) by deficits in emotional warmth and (b) by a relatively high educational and occupational status of parents. The parallel group study is based upon a sample of 112 children, who had been referred to a residential facility for psychiatric care. The hypothesis concerning deficits in emotional warmth is not confirmed. As to occupational status of parents however, comparative findings meet hypothetical expectations. Supplementary comparisons show, that autistic children had been exposed to parental overprotection more often and also not infrequently to ineffective behavior control.