Parenting children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder: an analysis of parenting styles, parental stress, and child anxiety and behavioral difficulties.

This study examined whether parenting differences between families of typically developing and autistic children and adolescents can be understood in relation to child- and parent-level patterns of association. A sample of 121 parents (76 ASD, 45 TD) completed measures of parenting styles, parental stress, child anxiety, and behavioral difficulties. Two path models were tested, examining parental stress alongside either child anxiety or behavioral difficulties as mediators. Results indicated that parents of autistic children reported higher parental stress, elevated child anxiety and behavioral difficulties, and greater use of non-authoritative parenting. However, direct effects of developmental group on parenting styles were no longer significant after accounting for mediators. Parental stress consistently mediated associations with authoritarian and permissive parenting across models. In the anxiety model, significant indirect effects were observed through child anxiety and parental stress. In the behavioral difficulties model, the individual indirect effect through behavioral difficulties was non-significant, whereas the sequential indirect effect involving behavioral difficulties and parental stress was significant. These findings suggest that parenting differences between families of typically developing and autistic children are better understood through family-level patterns of association rather than diagnostic status alone.