Perzolli Silvia, Bertamini Giulio, Venuti Paola, Bentenuto Arianna
Laboratory of Observation, Diagnosis and Education (ODFLab), Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy.
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Pitie-Salpetriere University Hospital, Sorbonne University, Paris, France.
Front Psychol. 2025 Jul 2;16:1593255. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1593255. eCollection 2025.
Several studies have investigated differences between mothers' and fathers' stress and mental health in the context of autistic children parenting. However, fewer have examined differences in parent-reported perceptions of their children's behaviors, symptom severity, and their associations with parental variables. This study aimed to compare parental stress (Parental Stress Index-Short From), mental health (Symptom Checklist-90), and parent-reported perceptions of child behaviors (Child Behavior Checklist-CBCL) and symptom severity (Social Responsiveness Scale-SRS). In Italian mothers and fathers of autistic children while exploring how parental wellbeing relates to both parent-reported and clinically assessed child characteristics.
A total of 102 parents (51 mothers and 51 fathers) of autistic children aged 4-19 years completed questionnaires assessing stress, mental health, children's behavioral traits and symptom severity. Standardized clinical tests directly measured children's cognitive functioning (IQ) and symptom severity. Group differences between mothers and fathers were analyzed using inferential tests, while Linear Mixed Models were employed to examine the effect of parent, parental stress and mental health on parent-reported perceptions of children's behaviors and symptom severity, as well as clinically measured children's cognitive functioning and symptoms severity.
Mothers and fathers reported similar stress levels but mothers showed higher levels of mental health symptoms and perceived their children as having more severe internalizing and externalizing behaviors and more severe symptomatology compared to fathers. Parental mental health was significantly associated with parent-reported child internalizing behaviors, while parental stress was linked to externalizing behaviors and parent-reported autism severity. No effects emerged for child cognitive functioning, and the model on clinician-rated autism severity failed to converge.
These findings emphasize the interconnected nature of parental wellbeing, parent-reported child characteristics, and clinically assessed child traits. Recognizing these links may inform more effective, targeted support strategies for families raising autistic children.
多项研究调查了在养育自闭症儿童的背景下，母亲和父亲的压力及心理健康状况的差异。然而，较少有研究考察父母报告的对孩子行为、症状严重程度的认知差异，以及这些认知与父母自身变量之间的关联。本研究旨在比较父母压力（父母压力指数简表）、心理健康（症状自评量表90项）、父母报告的对孩子行为的认知（儿童行为量表）和症状严重程度（社会反应量表）。研究对象为意大利自闭症儿童的父母，同时探讨父母的幸福感与父母报告的及临床评估的儿童特征之间的关系。
共有102名4至19岁自闭症儿童的父母（51名母亲和51名父亲）完成了评估压力、心理健康、儿童行为特征和症状严重程度的问卷。标准化临床测试直接测量儿童的认知功能（智商）和症状严重程度。使用推断性测试分析母亲和父亲之间的组间差异，同时采用线性混合模型来检验父母、父母压力和心理健康对父母报告的对孩子行为和症状严重程度的认知，以及临床测量的儿童认知功能和症状严重程度的影响。
母亲和父亲报告的压力水平相似，但母亲表现出更高水平的心理健康症状，并且与父亲相比，母亲认为自己的孩子有更严重的内化和外化行为以及更严重的症状表现。父母的心理健康与父母报告的孩子内化行为显著相关，而父母压力与外化行为以及父母报告的自闭症严重程度相关。儿童认知功能未产生影响，且关于临床医生评定的自闭症严重程度的模型未能收敛。
这些发现强调了父母幸福感、父母报告的儿童特征和临床评估的儿童特征之间相互关联的性质。认识到这些联系可能为养育自闭症儿童的家庭提供更有效、有针对性的支持策略。
