When individuals with autism and intellectual and developmental disabilities exhibit severe problem behavior, assessment and treatment are often warranted. Parents of such individuals are at high risk for developing parenting stress. In this study, 194 parents completed the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form at their child's time of admission to…

This longitudinal study examined the transactional relations between parenting stress and both internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems in young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) over 1.5 years using a cross-lagged panel analysis. Participants included 75 young children with ASD (Time 1; mean age = 25.68 months) and their…

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are at increased risk for bullying victimization. School refusal is a 'red flag' for identification of bullying in children with ASD and/or ADHD. This study examined the impact of diagnoses, demographics, and school variables on school refusal due to…

Parents of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) report higher levels of stress than parents of typically developing children. Few studies have examined factors associated with parental stress in early childhood. Even fewer have investigated the simultaneous influence of sociodemographic, clinical, and developmental variables on…

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are often at greater risk of experiencing stress and lower quality of life, in comparison to parents of typically developing (TD) children and other developmental disabilities. Despite vast literature on parental experiences in Western countries, little is known about this topic in Eastern…

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) face higher levels of caregiver strain compared to parents of children with other disabilities. This study examined child clinical features that predict high levels of caregiver strain for 374 parents of children with ASD. Caregiver strain was measured using the Caregiver Strain Questionnaire…

Children with autism may display an externalizing problem behavior, which are associated with increased parenting stress and depression in caregivers. Mindful parenting is defined as having a non-judgmental moment-to-moment awareness during caregiver-child interactions. The extant literature is mixed, with some reporting that associations between…

Elevated salivary cortisol levels have been documented in individuals who engage in self-injurious behavior (SIB), indicating acute physiological stress. Less is known about the chronicity of stress and SIB. We analyzed the relationship between parent ratings of problem behavior and hair cortisol concentrations (an index of chronic adrenocortical…

Flexibility is often associated with resilience from adversity. Youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are at risk of stress and trauma yet have inherent difficulties with flexibility, including rigid behaviors, routines, "insistence on sameness," and lack of social reciprocity. This review highlights literature of physiological and…

This study was conducted to explore the experiences of educators with mealtime behaviours of children with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in schools, and to explore the strategies undertaken in schools to improve nutrition among these children. In-depth interviews were conducted with 13 educators of various special schools across…

Elevated parenting stress among parents of children with autism spectrum disorder is well-documented; however, there is limited information about variability in parenting stress and relationships with parent ratings of child functioning. The aim of this study was to explore profiles of parenting stress among 100 parents of young children with…

The present study examined which aspects of the child's behavior and clinical profile accounted for three dimensions of parenting stress: related to parenting roles, to interactions with the child, and to the child. Measures of adaptive behavior, intellectual functioning, autism symptom severity, and challenging behavior and emotional difficulties…

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder report elevated parenting stress. The current study examined bidirectional effects between parenting stress and three domains of child functioning (ASD symptoms, internalizing behavior problems, and externalizing behavior problems) across four time points in 188 families of children with ASD (ages…

Caregivers of children with ASD often find benefits associated with their caregiving role, and benefit finding predicts lower distress. Child problematic behaviours (CPB), which positively predict caregivers' distress, are perceived to be being less problematic, or more manageable, by caregivers who find benefits. Benefit finding therefore might…

Research suggests that child problem behavior and poor family-school partnerships contribute to maternal stress in families of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, most extant research focuses only on White families even though Latina mothers of children with ASD experience greater systemic barriers impacting parent well-being…