A longitudinal examination of interactions between autism symptom severity and parenting behaviors in predicting change in child behavior problems.

• Caregiver distress, caregiver sex, and negative parenting each predicted change in child behavior problems. • More negative parenting predicted higher behavioral problems especially for children with less severe ASD symptoms. • Less negative parenting predicted lower behavioral problems especially for children with less severe ASD symptoms. • Negative parenting was not related to behavioral problems when considering only those with more severe ASD symptoms. Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often exhibit behavior problems, with more severe ASD symptomatology relating to more severe behavior problems. Behavior problems are correlated with parenting behaviors; however, less research has investigated the relations among specific parenting behaviors and change in child behavior problems, particularly among children with ASD. This study examined the interactions among Time 1 ASD symptom severity and parenting behaviors (positive and negative) when predicting Time 2 child internalizing and externalizing behaviors (analyzed separately), when accounting for Time 1 child behavior, caregiver distress, caregiver sex, and child age. The sample included 129 caregivers of a child with ASD (ages 4–10 years) who completed two online questionnaires one year apart, which included measures assessing ASD symptom severity, child behavior problems, parenting behaviors, and caregiver distress. Across two hierarchical multiple regression analyses, Time 1 child behavior, caregiver distress, caregiver sex, and negative parenting predicted unique variance in Time 2 child externalizing and internalizing behaviors. The interactions between ASD symptom severity and negative parenting predicting externalizing behaviors and ASD symptom severity and negative parenting predicting internalizing behaviors were significant. Examination of plots of the significant interactions suggested higher levels of negative parenting may exacerbate later behavioral problems and lower levels of negative parenting may protect against later behavioral problems for children with less severe ASD symptoms but not for those with more severe ASD symptoms. Results have implications for interventions targeting parenting practices for children with ASD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)