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Does Parental Mental Health Moderate the Association between Parenting Stress and Child Externalizing Behaviors Among Autistic Children?

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Abstract

Parents of autistic children experience significant parenting stress, which is prospectively associated with increases in child externalizing behaviors. However, family factors that place specific families at risk for experiencing the negative impacts of parenting stress on child externalizing behaviors have not been identified. The present study examined whether parental mental health moderates the association between parenting stress and child externalizing behaviors. Parents of 501 autistic children (Mage=5.16yrs) completed the Parenting Stress Index and Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory. Parents reported whether they had ever been diagnosed with a mental health disorder. Parenting stress, parental internalizing diagnosis, and parental externalizing diagnosis all independently predicted child externalizing behavior. However, parenting stress did not interact with any category of parental mental health diagnoses to predict child externalizing. Results implicate high levels of parenting stress as a risk factor for increased child behavior problems among autistic children across parental mental health statuses. Interventions aimed at reducing parenting stress may improve parent outcomes and prevent the development of child externalizing behaviors among families of autistic children.

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Data Availability

We appreciate obtaining access to recruit participants and obtain phenotypic data through SPARK research match on SFARI Base. We are grateful to all of the families in SPARK, the SPARK clinical sites and SPARK staff.

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Acknowledgements

The research reported here was supported by internal research support at the Medical University of South Carolina through the South Carolina Clinical & Translational Research Institute Voucher program (13380-0002). This work was supported by a grant from SFARI (515840, LAC). We appreciate obtaining access to recruit participants and obtain phenotypic data through SPARK research match on SFARI Base. We are grateful to all of the families in SPARK, the SPARK clinical sites and SPARK staff.

Funding

The research reported here was supported by internal research support at the Medical University of South Carolina through the South Carolina Clinical & Translational Research Institute Voucher program (13380-0002). This work was supported by a grant from SFARI (515840, LAC).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Psychology and Developmental Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    Erin E. Long

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Division of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA

    Laura A. Carpenter, Jordan Klein, Catherine C. Bradley & Rosmary Ros-Demarize

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E.E.L. wrote the first version of the manuscript and conducted all analyses. All authors provided feedback on subsequent versions of the manuscript.

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Long, E.E., Carpenter, L.A., Klein, J. et al. Does Parental Mental Health Moderate the Association between Parenting Stress and Child Externalizing Behaviors Among Autistic Children?. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-024-01691-5

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