Associations between child characteristics and parent response to emotion differ in young children with and without an autism diagnosis

This study examined how parents of children with and without an autism diagnosis respond to their children's negative emotions. Specifically, we (1) compared levels of supportive, non-supportive, and distress reactions; (2) tested whether child characteristics (autism traits and emotion dysregulation) predicted parent responses; and (3) explored whether autism diagnosis moderated these associations. Participants were 1780 parents of 2- to 5-year-old children from the United States (812 with an autism diagnosis). Parents completed the Coping with Children's Negative Emotions Scale and reported on children's autism traits and emotion dysregulation. Results indicated that parents of autistic children reported slightly more supportive and less non-supportive and distress responses than parents of children without a diagnosis. Associations between child characteristics and parent responses differed by diagnostic group: parents of children without a diagnosis who had more autism traits reported more non-supportive and distress responses, while these associations were weaker or non-existent for parents of children with a diagnosis. Emotion dysregulation was also associated with parent responding, with subtle differences between groups. Findings suggest an autism diagnosis may shape how parents interpret and respond to children's emotions.Lay AbstractThis study looked at how parents of 2- to 5-year-old children with and without an autism diagnosis respond when their children are upset. A total of 1780 parents completed a questionnaire about how likely they were to respond to their child's negative emotions in ways that were supportive (e.g. comforting the child) and non-supportive (e.g. saying the child is over-reacting, punishing the child). The goal was to see if parents of children with autism respond differently compared to parents of children without autism, and to understand if certain traits of the child, like social-communication and emotional challenges, affect how parents respond. Parents of autistic children generally reported more supportive responding and less non-supportive responding compared to parents of children with a diagnosis, though these differences were very small. For parents of children without an autism diagnosis, having a child with more social or emotional challenges was linked to more non-supportive responses. In contrast, for parents of children with an autism diagnosis, their responses were less strongly associated with these child characteristics. Importantly, some of the young children in this study who did not have an autism diagnosis had significant social-communication challenges consistent with autism and may in fact be autistic children who haven't been diagnosed yet. These results suggest that how parents of children <i>with</i> an autism diagnosis respond to their child's emotions may not be as impacted by their child's challenges as parents of children <i>without</i> a diagnosis, perhaps because the autism diagnosis provides parents with understanding and support around these challenges. This highlights the importance of early identification of autism and providing support to all parents, particularly those with children who have social-communication and emotional difficulties.