Parental Stress in Families of Children With Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities

Elevated parenting stress is observed among mothers of older children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), but little is known about parents of young newly-diagnosed children. Associations between child behavior and parenting stress were examined in mothers and fathers of 54 toddlers with ASD (mean age = 26.9 months). Parents reported elevated parenting stress. Deficits/delays in children's social relatedness were associated with overall parenting stress, parent-child relationship problems, and distress for mothers and fathers. Regulatory problems were associated with maternal stress, whereas externalizing behaviors were associated with paternal stress. Cognitive functioning, communication deficits, and atypical behaviors were not uniquely associated with parenting stress. Clinical assessment of parental stress, acknowledging differences in parenting experiences for mothers and fathers of young children with ASD, is needed.

To relate parentally reported sleep concerns in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) to polysomnographic (PSG) findings and measures of daytime behavior and autism symptomatology. Cross-sectional study involving validated questionnaires, sleep histories and diaries, 2 nights of PSG, and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS). Vanderbilt University General Clinical Research Center Sleep Core. 21 children with ASD and 10 typically developing (TD) children, aged 4-10 years. Children were free of psychotropic medications, with no history of mental retardation or epileptic seizures. N/A. Children with ASD were defined as "good sleepers" (10 children) and "poor sleepers" (11 children) on the basis of parental report; the age-comparable TD children were all reported by their parents to be good sleepers. Poor sleepers with ASD showed prolonged sleep latency and decreased sleep efficiency on night 1 of PSG and differed on insomnia-related subscales of the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ; increased sleep onset delay and decreased sleep duration). The good sleepers with ASD did not differ from the TD children in sleep architecture or on CSHQ domains. As compared with ASD good sleepers, the ASD poor sleepers also had higher scores related to affective problems on the Child Behavior Checklist and more problems with reciprocal social interaction on the ADOS. Parentally reported sleep concerns of insomnia in children with ASD are substantiated by validated sleep questionnaires and by PSG. Furthermore, good sleepers with ASD showed fewer affective problems and better social interactions than ASD poor sleepers.

This is a cross-sectional study that compares lifetime prevalence of gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms in children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs) and children with typical development and with other developmental disabilities (DDs) and examines the association of GI symptoms with a family history of autoimmune disease. A structured interview was performed in 50 children with ASD and 2 control groups matched for age, sex, and ethnicity-50 with typical development and 50 with other DDs. Seventy-four percent were boys with a mean age of 7.6 years (SD, +/-3.6). A history of GI symptoms was elicited in 70% of children with ASD compared with 28% of children with typical development (p <.001) and 42% of children with DD (p =.03). Abnormal stool pattern was more common in children with ASD (18%) than controls (typical development: 4%, p =.039; DD: 2%, p =.021). Food selectivity was also higher in children with ASD (60%) compared with those with typical development (22%, p =.001) and DD (36%, p =.023). Family history of autoimmune disease was reported in 38% of the ASD group and 34% of controls and was not associated with a differential rate of GI symptoms. In the multivariate analysis, autism (adjusted odds ratio (OR), 3.8; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.7-11.2) and food selectivity (adjusted OR, 4.1; 95% CI, 1.8-9.1) were associated with GI symptoms. Children with ASD have a higher rate of GI symptoms than children with either typical development or other DDs. In this study, there was no association between a family history of autoimmune disease and GI symptoms in children with ASD.