Prospective associations between ASD screening scores, parenting stress, and later socio-emotional-cognitive maturity in a community-based birth cohort.

Highlights • Autism spectrum disorder screening scores predict risk to child developmental maturity. • Parenting stress acts as a moderator of the previous association. • Children with higher screening scores and more distressed mothers are more at risk. Abstract Background Although autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have been associated with developmental outcomes and parenting stress, it is not known how all variables interact with each other. We estimated prospective associations between ASD screening scores at 24 months and socio-emotional-cognitive development at 36 months while considering parenting stress as a potential moderator of the outcome. Methods Using the Conditions Affecting Neurocognitive Development and Learning in Early Childhood data, ASD-risk behaviors at 24 months and child maturity levels in social, emotional, and cognitive domains at 36 months were reported (N = 1100). Results The number of ASD-type behaviors at 24 months was significantly associated with the socio-emotional-cognitive risk index at 36 months (B =.31, p <.01, 95% CI =.24–.38), mother-reported parenting stress at 24 months (B =.77, p <.01, 95% CI =.50–1.03), and maternal education (B = 0.67; p <.01; 95% CI =.39–.96). Further investigation revealed that children who had higher ASD screening scores and more distressed mothers experienced higher socio-emotional-cognitive risk than their counterparts who had either risk factor or none (p <.01). Conclusions ASD screening scores and parenting stress interact together to have an effect on later child developmental competence. This study suggests that interventions towards early ASD symptoms and parenting stress could enhance subsequent child developmental competence, which is a strong building block for early school readiness and personal success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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