Poster #21 - Discrepancies in Ratings of Child Behavior Between Mothers and Fathers of Autistic Children: Associations with Parent Mental Health

• In Event: Poster Session 03

Abstract

Introduction: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that causes deficits in reciprocal social communication and restricted and repetitive patterns of behaviors, interests, and activities (APA, 2013). Previous work has found disagreement between parents in their perception of characteristics of their autistic child (Duhig et al., 2000). Differences in perception, or informant discrepancies, been linked to phenomena within the family system such as maternal depression and family distress levels in neurotypical (NT) families (Christensen et al., 1992; Whiffen et al., 1990). There is a paucity of research, however, examining possible discrepancies between parents of autistic children (Stratis & Lecavalier, 2015). Because the entire family is impacted by characteristics of each individual member, parents of autistic children may differ from parents of NT children and consequently, research utilizing parents of NT children may not generalize to parents of autistic children. Further, because each member of the family system is unique, results finding that informant discrepancies predict maternal depression may not generalize to fathers and paternal depression. The current study seeks to determine whether patterns of discrepancies in parents’ perception of their child’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors predict depressive symptoms for mothers and fathers of autistic children.

Method: Participants in this multi-site study included 117 mothers and fathers with a child between 10 and 17 years old with autism. The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL: Achenbach, 1999) was used to measure parents’ perceptions of their child’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Parent depressive symptoms were measured using the Inventory of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms (IDAS; Watson et al., 2007).

Results: A total of four separate polynomial regression analyses were conducted in SPSS to determine whether discrepancies in parent ratings of internalizing and externalizing behaviors predicted maternal or paternal depressive symptoms. Results revealed that discrepancies in ratings of internalizing behaviors and externalizing behaviors predicted both maternal and paternal depression (see Table 1 for model values). Follow up response surface analyses determining which patterns of discrepancies predicted maternal and paternal depression are still being conducted and will be presented at the conference.

Discussion: Results suggest that parent disagreement regarding their child’s co-occurring internalizing and externalizing behaviors was associated with depressive symptoms for both mothers and fathers. This extends prior research finding that parent disagreement regarding characteristics of their NT children also predicted parent mental health. The findings of the current study also extend findings of prior work to fathers and paternal mental health. Once completed, response surface analyses will reveal which patterns of parent discrepancies predict maternal and paternal depression, providing further context for these results.

Authors

• Sarah Madison, Texas Christian University
  Presenting Author

• Kate Lindig, Texas Christian University

• Chrystyna D Kouros, Southern Methodist University

• Naomi Ekas, Texas Christian University