Age-related differences in the association between autistic sons’ challenging behaviour and maternal anxiety and depression: implications for counsellors

ABSTRACT

The associations between sons' challenging behaviour and mothers' anxiety and depression were investigated in four age-subgroups of boys with Autism Spectrum Disorder and their mothers (n = 49). Significant correlations were found only for the 6-yr-old boys' irritability and their mothers' anxiety (r = .808) and depression (r = .762), and for the 7-yr-old boys' stereotypy and their mothers' depression (r = .745). MANOVA and ANOVA found no significant differences between the irritability of the 6-yr-old boys and that of the remaining boys, nor between the 7-yr-olds' stereotypy and the remaining boys, plus no significant difference in the mothers' anxiety and depression scores across age groups. Implications are drawn for counselling and psychotherapy.

KEYWORDS:

• Anxiety
• depression
• parents
• autism
• boys

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge the valued time and efforts by the participants in this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contributions: VB and CFS conceived the study; VB collected the data and wrote the initial draft; CFS analysed the data and wrote the initial draft; both authors approved the final draft and revisions.

Ethical approval: All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Notes on contributors

Vicki Bitsika, PhD, is Professor of Biomedical Sciences, Brain-Behaviour Research Group, University of New England, New South Wales, Australia.

Christopher F. Sharpley, PhD, Fellow of the Australian Psychological Society (FAPS), is Professor of Neuroscience, Brain-Behaviour Research Group, University of New England, New South Wales, Australia.