Investigating Relationships Among Parental Cognitions and Emotions, Child Characteristics, and Family Demographics Among Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Background:  In recent years, research has demonstrated that parental cognitions and emotions predict family engagement in intervention programs developed for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).  For example, our previous research found that baseline measures of parental insightfulness moderated treatment effects among mothers of children with ASD participating in a randomized controlled trial of a responsiveness-based parent-mediated intervention (Focused Playtime Intervention [FPI]; Siller, Hutman, & Sigman, 2013).  Therefore, there is a necessity to better understand parental cognitions and emotions among families of children with ASD. 

Objectives:  The current study aimed to investigate baseline relationships among the Insightfulness Assessment (Oppenheim & Koren-Karie, 2002) and the Reaction to Diagnosis Interview (Pianta & Marvin, 1993) in relation to a range of other parental cognitions and emotions (i.e., stress, understanding of child development, self-efficacy, perception of child attachment, and social support); child characteristics (i.e., nonverbal and language abilities and ASD symptoms); and family demographics among  70 mothers of children with ASD (chronological age: M = 57.13 months; SD = 12.30; male: n = 64) who participated in FPI.

Methods:  At baseline, parents were asked to participate in two semi-structured interview measures: (1) the Insightfulness Assessment (IA) and (2) the Reaction to Diagnosis Interview (RDI).  Parents were also asked to complete five questionnaires: (1) the Questionnaire of Resources & Stress (Konstantareas, Homatidis, & Plowright, 1992); (2) the Concepts of Development Questionnaire (Sameroff & Feil, 1985); (3) the Parenting Sense of Competence Scale (Johnston and Mash, 1989); (4) the Maternal Perception of Child Attachment (Hoppes & Harris, 1990); and (5) the Perceived Social Support Scale (Procidano & Heller, 1983).  Children were administered the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (Mullen, 1995) and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (Lord et al., 2000).  Parents were asked to complete a demographic questionnaire that included questions about the child’s ethnicity/race, family constellation, and various indicators of family socioeconomic status.

Results:  Analyses included a series of multiple regression models using SAS PROC REG.  Findings revealed that mothers who demonstrated higher levels of insightfulness on narratives elicited by the IA demonstrated lower levels of stress, t(62) = -2.24, p < .05 and higher levels of self-efficacy, t(62) = 2.19, p < .05 and understanding of child development, t(63) = 3.23, p < .01.  In addition, mothers who demonstrated higher levels of resolution in regards to their child’s diagnosis on narratives elicited by the RDI demonstrated lower levels of stress, t(62) = -2.84, p < .01 and higher levels of self-efficacy, t(62) = 2.67, p < .01 and perceived social support, t(64) = 2.98, p < .01.  None of the interaction terms were significant.  Child characteristics and family demographics were unrelated to parental narratives on the IA and RDI. 

Conclusions:  The current study allows researchers to better understand relationships among parental cognitions and emotions, child characteristics, and family demographics among families of children with ASD.  Findings contribute to research that aims to inform the efficacy of intervention programs.