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The Association between Autism Spectrum Disorder Symptoms in High-Functioning Male Adolescents and their Mothers’ Anxiety and Depression

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Abstract

To assess the impact of their child’s symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder upon parents’ anxiety and depression, 68 mothers of boys aged 10 to 15 years (M = 12.6 years, SD = 1.6 years) completed the ASD Behaviour Checklist, the GAD7 and the PHQ9 at a single setting. Results indicated that the boys’ restricted and repetitive behaviours had the strongest relationship with their mothers’ anxiety and depression, followed by communication difficulties, but the latter set of behaviours did not significantly add to the variance predicted by restricted and repetitive behaviours. Their sons’ intense reactions to stressors was the most powerful ASD-related contributor to the anxiety and depression experienced by these mothers. Several suggestions for enhancing parental coping with this aspect of their child’s ASD behavioural symptomatology are discussed.

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Acknowledgements

The authors express their gratitude to the participants of this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Autism Spectrum Disorder, Bond University, Robina, QLD, 4229, Australia

    Vicki Bitsika

  2. Brain-Behaviour Research Group, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, 2351, Australia

    Christopher F. Sharpley

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  1. Vicki Bitsika
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  2. Christopher F. Sharpley
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Correspondence to Christopher F. Sharpley.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors Vicki Bitsika and Christopher F. Sharpley share senior authorship.

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Bitsika, V., Sharpley, C.F. The Association between Autism Spectrum Disorder Symptoms in High-Functioning Male Adolescents and their Mothers’ Anxiety and Depression. J Dev Phys Disabil 29, 461–473 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-017-9537-1

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