Longitudinal Links Between Parenting Stress and Adaptive Behavior Among Autistic Toddlers

• In Event: Poster Session 02
  In Poster Session: PS 02 Topic - Developmental Disabilities

Abstract

Background: Parents of autistic children report a high level of parenting stress associated with child factors, including adaptive behavior (Hall & Graff, 2011). A majority of this work is cross-sectional and largely focuses on the early childhood to school-aged developmental period. Limited longitudinal studies of parents of autistic children have explored the directionality of these effects with some support for bidirectionality (Neece et al., 2011; Rodriguez et al., 2019). Moreover, the role of protective factors in ameliorating these links has yet to be explored. Social support, for example, has been shown to have positive effects on stress and well-being of parents of autistic children (Boyd, 2002), and may also serve as an effective buffer between parent stress and child factors across time. Therefore, the current study sought to 1) explore longitudinal cross-lagged effects between adaptive functioning and parenting stress among caregivers of autistic toddlers and 2) test whether social support moderates these links.

Method: Data were drawn from the National Database for Autism Research (NDAR), an NIH-funded data repository. Toddlers (n = 77) demonstrated “moderate to severe concern for autism” on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule. The sample was 76.6% male and an average age of 21.12 months old (SD = 3.55) at the first time-point. Parenting stress and social support were measured with the Autism Parenting Stress Index and Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey, respectively. Adaptive behavior was measured with the Adaptive Behavior Assessment System Second Edition; three subscales were available: self-direction, communication, and social functioning. Sufficient longitudinal data were available at two time-points spaced approximately one year apart (M = 12.53 months; SD = 1.60 months).

Results: A cross-lagged panel analysis in Mplus v8.1 showed significant longitudinal effects of parenting stress on toddler self-direction (β = -0.44, p <0.001) and social functioning (β = -0.28, p < 0.01). Reverse effects from child adaptive behavior to parenting stress, however, did not emerge (Table 1). Additionally, we found that the effect of parenting stress on later self-direction and social functioning was moderated by social support (p = 0.06 and 0.05, respectively). That is, the effect of parenting stress on child adaptive behavior (self-direction and social functioning) was stronger at lower levels of social support (Figure 1).

Discussion: The findings of our study revealed that parenting stress can longitudinally affect the adaptive behavior, in particular self-direction and social functioning, of autistic toddlers. In contrast to the existing literature on older children, the effect of child factors on parenting stress was not observed. The effect from parenting stress to child outcomes is likely occurring through parenting behavior, which may include greater parent accommodation and intrusiveness, or lesser parental sensitivity and responsivity. Social support may prevent stress from impacting parenting behavior, and in turn, child functioning. Future longitudinal research should further examine the interplay of adaptive functioning, social support, parenting stress, and parenting behavior across development among autistic children to better elucidate these patterns across a range of developmental periods.

Authors

• Hillary Schiltz, Marquette University
  Presenting Author

• Alana J. McVey, University of British Columbia
  Non-Presenting Author

• Brooke E. Magnus, Boston College
  Non-Presenting Author