Prospective associations between ASD screening scores, parenting stress, and later socio-emotional-cognitive maturity in a community-based birth cohort

• Published in: Research in autism spectrum disorders 2019-03, Vol.59, p.46-57
• Main Authors: Danny Nguyen, A.K., Murphy, Laura E., Tylavsky, Frances A., Pagani, Linda S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Autism spectrum disorder; Developmental psychology; Longitudinal data analysis; Parenting stress; Screening; Socio-emotionalcognitive maturity
• ISSN: 1750-9467; 1878-0237
• DOI: 10.1016/j.rasd.2018.11.012

•Autism spectrum disorder screening scores predict risk to child developmental maturity.•Parenting stress acts as a moderator of the previous association.•Children with higher screening scores and more distressed mothers are more at risk. Although autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have been associated with developmental outcomes and parenting stress, it is not known how all variables interact with each other. We estimated prospective associations between ASD screening scores at 24 months and socio-emotional-cognitive development at 36 months while considering parenting stress as a potential moderator of the outcome. Using the Conditions Affecting Neurocognitive Development and Learning in Early Childhood data, ASD-risk behaviors at 24 months and child maturity levels in social, emotional, and cognitive domains at 36 months were reported (N = 1100). The number of ASD-type behaviors at 24 months was significantly associated with the socio-emotional-cognitive risk index at 36 months (B = .31, p