Is the broad autism phenotype in mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder exacerbated by the challenges of caring for their children?

Introduction Seventy years ago, the child psychiatrist, Leo Kanner, described mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as distant and aloof [1]. This concept of milder autistic traits in the relatives of children with ASD has developed considerably. Typically, researchers take these milder autistic traits to be the phenotypic expression