Parent couple conflict and emotional and behavioral problems in youth with autism: Longitudinal investigation of bidirectional effects.

This study followed 188 families with autistic children for 4 years to understand how parent relationship conflicts and child behavioral problems affect each other. The research found that when fathers reported more couple conflict, children showed more behavioral problems a year later. Similarly, when fathers reported more child behavioral problems, couple conflict increased the following year. Interestingly, this pattern wasn't found with mothers' reports, suggesting fathers may experience these family stresses differently.

This longitudinal study examined the bidirectional relationship between parent couple conflict and emotional/behavioral problems in youth with autism over four years. Following 188 families with children aged 5-12 years with ASD, researchers found that fathers' reports of couple conflict predicted increased youth emotional and behavioral problems 12 months later, and fathers' reports of youth problems predicted increased couple conflict. Notably, mothers' reports did not show these cross-lagged effects. The findings suggest a transactional relationship specifically between fathers' perceptions of family functioning, highlighting the interconnected nature of family psychosocial experiences in autism families and supporting the need for comprehensive family-centered interventions.

Results support implementing family-wide interventions that address both couple relationship functioning and child behavioral support simultaneously. Particular attention should be given to fathers' experiences and perspectives in family intervention planning, as they may be uniquely positioned to influence family dynamics in autism families.

Study relied on parent self-report measures which may introduce bias. The abstract does not specify demographic characteristics or autism severity levels of participants. Findings may not generalize beyond the specific age range studied (5-12 years initially).

Families of youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are vulnerable to maladaptive psychosocial experiences, including elevated youth emotional and behavioral problems (EBPs) and poor parent couple relationship outcomes. Yet, the extent to which these family psychosocial experiences are intertwined has been given little research attention. The present study longitudinally investigated the bidirectional associations between parent couple conflict (PCC) and youth EBPs in 188 families of children and adolescents with ASD (initially aged 5 to 12 years) across four time points (T1, T2, T3, T4), each spaced 12 months apart. Mother- and father-report of youth EBPs and PCC were entered into a cross-lagged panel model.

After adjusting for youth age and intellectual disability status and parent education and couple relationship length, the results indicated that father-report of PCC predicted increased youth EBPs 12 months later (T1→T2 and T2→T3). In addition, father-report of youth EBPs predicted increased PCC 12 months later (T3→T4). Mother-report did not demonstrate cross-lagged effects. The findings suggest that fathers' perceptions of PCC and youth emotional and behavioral functioning are transactionally related, highlighting the need for family-wide interventions.