The Broad Autism Phenotype and Parenting in Mothers and Fathers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

• In Event: Implications of the Broad Autism Phenotype in Parents with a Child with ASD for Family Functioning

Abstract

The broad autism phenotype (BAP) refers to subclinical behaviors characteristic of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Higher levels of BAP in individuals are associated with pragmatic language impairments, social difficulties, and rigidity (e.g., Losh & Piven, 2007). Previous research has also found BAP behaviors to be negatively associated with the quality of social relationships (Pruitt et al., 2018). Given the difficulties associated with elevated BAP behaviors, it is possible that the quality of parent-child interactions may also be affected. For example, following a parent-mediated intervention, the parent-child interaction quality of the group of mothers with higher BAP behaviors were unchanged as compared to the group of mothers with lower BAP behaviors (Parr et al., 2015). The authors hypothesized that mothers in the higher BAP group may have been unable to adapt their social communication style. Given the paucity of research examining associations between BAP behaviors and parenting, the current study sought to examine these associations in mothers and fathers raising children with ASD. Participants consisted of 69 cohabitating, heterosexual couples raising a child with ASD under 10 years of age. Parents individually completed a series of questionnaires online and were compensated for their time. The Broad Autism Phenotype Questionnaire was used to assess BAP behaviors. Parents also completed the Parent Behavior Inventory to assess parental warmth and the Parenting Sense of Competence Scale to measure how well parents rated their parenting ability. A series of separate moderation models were tested using the PROCESS macro in SPSS. Parent BAP was entered as a predictor of parental warmth (model 1) and parenting sense of competence (model 2). Parent gender was specified as the moderator. Parent BAP was significantly associated with parental warmth, b = -8.61, p = .008. This effect was moderated by parent gender, such that the relationship was significant only for fathers, b = -3.60, p = .01. Similarly, parent BAP was negatively associated with parenting sense of competence, b = -14.72, p = .01, but only for fathers, b = -7.19, p = .006. The BAP in parents of children with ASD was associated with parenting; however, this effect was only significant for fathers. This is in contrast to research with parents of typically developing children wherein parent personality traits impact parenting similarly for mothers and fathers. However, there is no research examining the BAP specifically. It is possible that in the context of parenting a child with ASD, mothers are able to effectively parent regardless of their levels of BAP. Further research is needed to disentangle the potential mechanisms explaining these associations among fathers.

Authors

• Naomi Ekas, Texas Christian University
  Presenting Author

• Deborah Rafferty, Texas Christian University
  Non-Presenting Author