Parenting Stress and its Associated Components Prior to an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Diagnostic Evaluation

Voliovitch, Yair; Leventhal, John M.; Fenick, Ada M.; Gupta, Abha R.; Feinberg, Emily; Hickey, Emily J.; Shabanova, Veronika; Weitzman, Carol

doi:10.1007/s10803-020-04804-w

Original Paper
Published: 02 January 2021

Parenting Stress and its Associated Components Prior to an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Diagnostic Evaluation

Yair Voliovitch¹^nAff5,
John M. Leventhal¹,
Ada M. Fenick¹,
Abha R. Gupta¹,
Emily Feinberg^2,3,
Emily J. Hickey^2,4,
Veronika Shabanova¹ &
Carol Weitzman ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-3803-0961¹^nAff6

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders volume 51, pages 3432–3442 (2021)Cite this article

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Abstract

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show increased levels of parenting stress, but only one study has examined this association before a diagnostic evaluation. We conducted a cross-sectional study of parenting stress in 317 low SES parents with children at-risk for ASD before a diagnostic evaluation. Multiple regression modeling evaluated the associations between parenting stress and parent and child factors. Parenting stress was negatively associated with social support and positively associated with active avoidance coping and parental worry. However, parenting stress was not associated with the child’s ASD symptom severity or adaptive functioning, except for self-direction. Findings suggest parenting stress among parents of children at risk of ASD should be assessed prior to diagnosis.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the participating families, without whom this study would not have been possible. We would also like to acknowledge the family navigators, study coordinators, and research staff who played a critical role in study implementation: Manju Abraham, Jenny Acevedo, Marisol Credle, Yaminette Diaz-Linhart, Sonia Erlich, Mitsouka Exantus, Ivys Fernandez-Pastrana, Plyce Fuchu, Julianna Gardener, Cynthia Guillen, Ashly Marte, Nadia Martinez, Nicole Melita and Samia Omer.

Funding

This study was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH104355), NIMH’s national ASD Pediatric Early Detections, Engagement, and Service (PEDS) Network. It was conducted in collaboration with the Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics Research Network (DBPNet). DBPNet is supported by cooperative agreement UA3MC20218 from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Fellowship funding came from a HRSA Institutional Training Grant (T32HS10038). This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government. None of funders were involved in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

Author information

Yair Voliovitch
Present address: Pediatric Neurology Institute, Dana-Dwek Children’s Hospital, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel
Carol Weitzman
Present address: Division of Developmental Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

Affiliations

Department of Pediatrics, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
Yair Voliovitch, John M. Leventhal, Ada M. Fenick, Abha R. Gupta, Veronika Shabanova & Carol Weitzman
Division of General Academic Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
Emily Feinberg & Emily J. Hickey
Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
Emily Feinberg
University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, USA
Emily J. Hickey

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Yair Voliovitch
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John M. Leventhal
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Ada M. Fenick
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Abha R. Gupta
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Emily Feinberg
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Emily J. Hickey
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Veronika Shabanova
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Carol Weitzman
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All authors made substantive contributions to the conceptualization of this study, data analysis and interpretation, writing and review of this paper.

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Table 3 Unadjusted correlations between the child and parental variables and PSI-4-SF subscales

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Table 4 Adjusted associations between the child and parental variables and PSI-4-SF subscales

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Voliovitch, Y., Leventhal, J.M., Fenick, A.M. et al. Parenting Stress and its Associated Components Prior to an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Diagnostic Evaluation. J Autism Dev Disord 51, 3432–3442 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04804-w

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Accepted: 12 November 2020
Published: 02 January 2021
Issue Date: October 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04804-w

Keywords

Parenting stress
Pre-diagnostic
Autism spectrum disorder

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