Background: Distress in the parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can detrimentally impact parent and child functioning, making the prediction of distress in this parental group particularly important. Model A, developed by Falk, Norris, and Quinn, demonstrated that the relationship between childcentric variables (child social/interpersonal deficits and child externalised behaviour) with parental distress is mediated by parent-centric variables (socio-economic support and maladaptive parental cognitions) in parents of children with ASD. However, this model has not been validated in further ASD populations and therefore its generalisability outside the sample in which it was developed remains unknown. This study aimed to empirically validate Model A for the prediction of distress in parents of children with ASD in an independent sample. Method: The current study recruited 153 parents of children aged under 18 years with a diagnosis of ASD. Participants completed an online questionnaire, containing measures of parental distress, child social/interpersonal deficits, child externalised behaviour, maladaptive parental cognitions, and socio-economic support. Results: Using structural equation modelling, the model was found to be a good fit for parents of children with ASD. These results support the finding that parentcentric variables are important predictors of distress in this population. Conclusions: It is argued that parental distress should be considered a key target when working with families impacted by ASD, and that interventions should focus on the parent as well as the child.

中文翻译：

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自闭症儿童父母抑郁、焦虑和压力预测模型的实证验证

背景：自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 儿童父母的痛苦会对父母和孩子的功能产生不利影响，因此预测该父母群体的痛苦尤为重要。由 Falk、Norris 和 Quinn 开发的模型 A 表明，以儿童为中心的变量（儿童社交/人际关系缺陷和儿童外化行为）与父母痛苦之间的关系是由以父母为中心的变量（社会经济支持和适应不良的父母认知）介导的在 ASD 儿童的父母中。然而，该模型尚未在进一步的 ASD 人群中得到验证，因此它在开发它的样本之外的普遍性仍然未知。本研究旨在通过经验验证模型 A 在独立样本中预测 ASD 儿童父母的痛苦。方法：目前的研究招募了 153 名 18 岁以下被诊断为 ASD 儿童的父母。参与者完成了一份在线问卷，其中包含对父母压力、儿童社交/人际关系缺陷、儿童外化行为、父母适应性不良认知和社会经济支持的测量。结果：使用结构方程模型，发现该模型非常适合 ASD 儿童的父母。这些结果支持这样的发现，即以父母为中心的变量是这一人群中痛苦的重要预测因素。结论：有人认为，在与受 ASD 影响的家庭一起工作时，父母的痛苦应该被视为一个关键目标，