CHILD AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER AND PARENTING STRESS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE PARENTS OF SINGLE BIRTH CHILDREN, AND DISCORDANT AND CONCORDANT TWIN PAIRS

A study was conducted to examine parental stress levels of parents who have a single birth child, discordant twin pair (i.e., one twin was diagnosed, and the other was not), or concordant twin pair (i.e., both twins were diagnosed) with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). An online survey was created to assess perceived parental stress among parents of children with ASD. The Parental Stress Scale (PSS) and Autism Parenting Stress Index (APSI) were used to measure parental stress. Twin type (i.e., monozygotic or dizygotic twins) was assessed by the Nichols and Bilbro (1966) physical resemblance form. Fifty-three parents participated in the study (20 parents of a single birth child, 23 parents of discordant twins, and 10 parents of concordant twins). Though parental stress levels slightly differed between the three parent groups, the findings were non-significant. The current study attempted to fill the gap of knowledge about parental stress levels for twin pairs with ASD, which is underrepresented within psychological literature. The study also attempted to determine if there was a difference in perceived stress between parents of single birth children and parents of one or two multiple birth children with ASD. The study was the first to compare parental stress for parents of singletons and twins diagnosed with ASD and the first to apply the parental stress protocols to twins.