Depression as a Predictor of Marital Quality for Mothers and Fathers of Toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Background: Parents of children with ASD report higher levels of depression and lower marital quality than parents of unaffected children or those with other developmental disabilities. However, few studies have examined changes in depression and marital quality in parents of toddlers with ASD.  Objectives:   To investigate how change in self and partner depression contribute to change in marital quality over 1 year in parents of toddlers with ASD. Methods: Parents of toddlers between 18 and 33 months with ASD were recruited into a longitudinal study. Mothers and fathers answered questions about depressive symptoms on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Inventory (CES-D) and about marital quality on the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) at two time points (Y1 and Y2) with a one-year time interval. Results: Participants included 83 mother-father dyads. In Y1, 29% of mothers and fathers were above the clinical cut-off for depression. Mean CES-D and DAS total scores did not change significantly from Y1 to Y2 for mothers or fathers. A regression analysis predicting to mothers’ Y2 marital adjustment indicated that, after accounting for mother’s Y1 marital quality (R²D=.54), mothers Y2 depression (R²D=.05) and fathers change in marital quality (R²D=.02) each accounted for unique variance. In a second analysis, predicting to fathers’ Y2 marital quality, after accounting for father’s Y1 marital quality (R²D=.50), fathers’ Y2 depression (R²D=.05) and mothers’ Y1 marital quality (R²D=.02) each accounted for unique variance in father’s Y2 marital quality. Conclusions: Consistent with a family systems perspective, depression and martial quality are integrally linked for mothers and fathers of toddlers with ASD. Our results suggest that it is important to identify and treat both parents’ depression early in their child’s development, as this can have a positive impact on their marital quality over time.