Abstract: Does Child-Rearing Dis/Agreement Contribute to the Mental Health of Parents of Children Diagnosed with Autism? (Society for Social Work and Research 28th Annual Conference - Recentering & Democratizing Knowledge: The Next 30 Years of Social Work Science)

Schedule:

Friday, January 12, 2024

Mint, ML 4 (Marriott Marquis Washington DC)

* noted as presenting author

Tamara Grimm, MSW, Doctoral student, University of South Carolina, SC

Robert Hock, PhD, Associate Professor, University of South Carolina, SC

Andrew Conway, Postdoctoral scholar, The Pennsylvania State University, PA

Mark Feinberg, PhD, Professor, The Pennsylvania State University, PA

Background:

This study examined the relationship between coparent disagreement and reported symptoms of anxiety and depression within a sample of parents of young children recently diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although existing research suggests that child problem behaviors can impact parental mental health outcomes, particularly for mothers, less focus has been given to interparental predictors of poor mental health outcomes. Thus exploration of the relationship between interparental disagreement on key child-rearing issues and parental mental health outcomes yields novel information that can inform future intervention strategies for parents of children with ASD.

Methods:

Data was collected through an online questionnaire as part of an intervention trial. Parents and caregivers (n=206) of children (aged 18 months - 8 years) diagnosed with ASD within the past year were recruited through provider referrals, social media advertisements, research registries, and statewide disability support organizations in South Carolina. The sample was comprised of 111 women and 92 men from 109 families. Participants identified as White (136, 66%) Black (18, 37%) and Hispanic (4, 9%). Their mean age was 36.6 (SD 6.1) and the mean age of their autistic child was 4.18 (SD 1.8).

Parenting disagreement was measured with the Parent Problem Checklist (PPC), which assesses perceived disagreement on common child-rearing issues, such as household rules and discipline. Depressive symptoms were measured with the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and a subscale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory was used to represent anxiety. We used hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to account for the dyadic nature of the data, with parent scores nested within family. Models were fit using restricted maximum likelihood, the Satterthwaite degrees of freedom method, and allowed families and individuals to vary in their intercepts. All variables were entered as fixed effects. Outcomes were standardized to aid in the interpretation of results and each outcome was assessed separately.

Results:

Coparent disagreement contributed significantly to parents’ depressive symptoms (b = .32, se = .07, p = .000, %CI[.19, .45]) and anxiety symptoms (b = .36, se = .06, p = .000, CI[.23, .49]), after controlling for child challenging behaviors, child gender, parent gender, parent age, and financial strain. Greater financial strain was also significantly associated with increased depressive symptoms (b = .21, se = .07, p = .002, %CI[-.13, .15]) and anxiety (b = .21, se = .06, p = .001, %CI[.08, .34]). Parent gender (being male) was negatively associated with symptoms of anxiety (b = -.52, se = .11, p = .000, %CI[-.74, -.30]).

Implications:

The findings reveal that coparent disagreement predicts poorer parent mental health, even after controlling for common stressors and demographics. This information could be used to design future educational and clinical interventions targeted at coparents of young children with ASD. Specifically, social workers could design interventions that promote higher levels of agreement on key child rearing issues. Future studies could examine the impact of other coparent dynamics and their impact on the mental health outcomes of parents of children with ASD.