Assessing Child Symptom Severity and Stress in Parents of Autistic Children

Parents of 44 autistic children rated their children's symptom severity and their own stress on a 14‐item symptom scale. Thirteen child and family characteristics were also examined to assess how they affected symptom perception and stress. Preschoolers were rated less symptomatic by their pare...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of child psychology and psychiatry 1989-05, Vol.30 (3), p.459-470
Main Authors: Konstantareas, M. Mary, Homatidis, Soula
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Psychological
Adult
Autism
Autistic Disorder - psychology
Biological and medical sciences
Child
Child, Preschool
Female
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Parent-Child Relations
parental stress
Parents - psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Risk Factors
Social Environment
Social psychiatry. Ethnopsychiatry
Social Support
Sociocultural environment
Stress, Psychological - psychology
symptom perception
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Summary:Parents of 44 autistic children rated their children's symptom severity and their own stress on a 14‐item symptom scale. Thirteen child and family characteristics were also examined to assess how they affected symptom perception and stress. Preschoolers were rated less symptomatic by their parents than by clinicians. Lower functioning, nonverbal, odd‐looking, self‐abusive, seizuring and hyperirritable children were rated more symptomatic than their peers. Best predictor bf stress for both parents was a child's self‐abuse; for mothers hyperirritability and older age were also associated with elevated Stress scores. Compared with parents of matched normal children, mothers of autistic children reported the most aggravations and expressed the need for additional support from their spouses.
ISSN:0021-9630
1469-7610
DOI:10.1111/j.1469-7610.1989.tb00259.x