| dc.description.abstract | It is common in families of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and at least one other child who is neurotypical (NT) for parents to vary their parenting based on the child's status. The present study sought to determine whether differential parenting was present in a group of 52 mothers and 25 fathers with both an ASD child and an NT child between the ages of 8 and 16, whether parenting behaviors differed between mothers and fathers of these children, and how parenting behaviors affect the NT child. There was no difference in parenting between the ASD and NT children. Mothers and fathers differed in their parenting in that mothers reported significantly more conflict with their children than fathers. Although parental warmth was not associated with the mental health of the NT child, parent-child conflict for both mothers and fathers, as well as closeness to the mothers, predicted higher levels of depression and anxiety in their NT children. This study was unique in its inclusion of fathers, but future studies should include a greater proportion of fathers in their data and be broader in the distribution of participants across socioeconomic, educational, and racial backgrounds. Future studies could also analyze parenting behavior and potential differences between ASD and NT siblings across different age groups. | |
