How sex of children with autism spectrum disorders and access to treatment services relates to parental stress

Irina Zamora; Eliza K Harley; Shulamite A Green; Kathryn Smith; Michele D Kipke

doi:10.1155/2014/721418

How sex of children with autism spectrum disorders and access to treatment services relates to parental stress

Autism Res Treat. 2014:2014:721418. doi: 10.1155/2014/721418. Epub 2014 Dec 14.

Authors

Irina Zamora¹, Eliza K Harley², Shulamite A Green³, Kathryn Smith¹, Michele D Kipke⁴

Affiliations

¹ Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA ; USC University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, 4650 Sunset Boulevard, MS No. 53, Los Angeles, CA 90027, USA.
² Rady Children's Hospital San Diego, 3020 Children's Way, MC 5023, San Diego, CA 92123, USA.
³ University of California, Los Angeles, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Ahmanson Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, 660 Charles E. Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
⁴ Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA.

Abstract

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) experience higher levels of stress in comparison to parents of neurotypical children and consequently are more susceptible to negative health and social outcomes (Dunn et al., 2001). However, less is known about how individual child characteristics impact stress levels in parents of children with ASD. In this study, we examined the relationship between individual characteristics (i.e., sex) of children with ASD and parental stress. Access to comprehensive treatment services was also examined as a contributing factor to parental stress. Parenting stress was higher for parents of girls than for parents of boys, and for parents of girls (but not boys) fewer services predicted higher parental distress. Findings highlight the importance of providing parents of girls with ASD with more tailored support.