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Examining Associations between Marital Conflict and Sleep Quality in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Wed, April 7, 12:55 to 1:55pm EDT (12:55 to 1:55pm EDT), Virtual

Abstract

Introduction: A meta-analysis by Hayes and Watson (2012) shows that parenting stress has a larger effect on families of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) than families of neurotypical (NT) children. Along with elevated stress levels, couples who have a child with ASD experience more frequent, unresolved conflicts (Hartley et al, 2017). Interparental conflict often impacts children in various aspects of their lives, one of which is the child’s sleep quality. A study of NT children showed that increased marital conflict was associated with decreased quantity and quality of children’s sleep (El-Sheikh et al., 2006). Past research found that children with ASD report more sleep problems than NT children, ranging from 40% to 80% (Cortesi et al, 2009). However, there is no research exploring whether marital conflict contributes to the aforementioned sleep difficulties. This study, therefore, aims to investigate the effects of marital conflict on the sleep behaviors of children and adolescents with ASD.

Method: Participants consisted of 71 families (mother, father, child). Children ranged in age from 10-17 years and were primarily male. Children had a community diagnosis of ASD and diagnostic status was verified using the ADOS and ADI. During a follow-up laboratory visit, parents and children completed a series of questionnaires. The O’Leary Porter Scale was completed by mothers and fathers to assess marital conflict. Children completed the Security in the Interparental System Scale to measure their reactions to marital conflict the Cleveland Adolescent Sleepiness Questionnaire to assess sleep quality.

Results: Two separate mediation models were conducted using the PROCESS macro in SPSS. Higher levels of maternal-reported marital conflict were associated with children displaying increased behavioral dysregulation in response to marital conflict, b = .07, SE = .03, p = .02. Greater behavioral dysregulation, in turn, predicted increased daytime sleepiness, b = 2.65, SE = .97, p = .01. No direct association between marital conflict and sleepiness were found. The bootstrapped indirect effect was significant, effect = .02, SE = .01. The same model was tested for paternal-reported marital conflict and no evidence of mediation was found. Specifically, the path from paternal-reported marital conflict to child-reported behavioral dysregulation was non-significant.

Discussion: The current study examined a process-oriented model of the associations between marital conflict and sleep quality. Maternal report of marital conflict was associated with sleep via children’s behavioral dysregulation in response to marital conflict. This suggests that it may be important to consider family-level factors when examining sleep quality in children and adolescents with ASD. Unfortunately, our model containing father report of marital conflict was non-significant. Mother and father report of conflict were generally consistent; given the paucity of research that includes mothers and fathers, follow-up research is needed.

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