Dissertation
A LONGITUDINAL EXAMINATION OF THE RELATION BETWEEN PARENTING EFFICACY AND CHILD BEHAVIOR THROUGH PARENTING FACTORS IN FAMILIES OF A CHILD WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER
Washington State University
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
01/2021
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000001864
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/120388
Abstract
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often exhibit behavioral difficulties, with more severe ASD symptoms relating to more severe behavior problems. Research has demonstrated that parenting factors can influence the severity of these behaviors, and there is evidence that parenting factors can be impacted by both parenting efficacy and caregiver knowledge. The current study examined a double moderated mediation model of the relation between parenting efficacy, parenting factors (positive parenting, negative parenting, criticism/hostility, and emotional overinvolvement, each analyzed separately), child behavior problems (externalizing and internalizing behaviors, each analyzed separately), caregiver knowledge of ASD, and child ASD symptom severity. To examine these questions, 117 caregivers of a child with ASD (ages 4 to 10 years at Time 1) completed three online surveys, each one year apart, that assessed variables of interest. There were mixed results for the tested hypotheses with limited support found for the two-way interactions, simple mediation, and double moderated mediation models. However, a number of noteworthy main effects were found. Specifically, higher levels of parenting efficacy were related to both adaptive and maladaptive parenting factors, and higher levels of knowledge of ASD were related to more adaptive parenting factors one year later. Child ASD symptom severity and the majority of maladaptive parenting factors predicted later higher levels of child behavioral problems. Although this study’s longitudinal design allowed the examination of the temporal sequence of relations, it was limited by its homogeneous sample, use of online data collection and caregiver-report for all study variables, and correlational design. Future research may choose to recruit a more representative sample, employ more sophisticated data collection methods, and implement an experimental design to allow determinations regarding causality of these relations. Investigation of these moderating and mediating roles of variables among families with a child with ASD is important to provide clarity regarding the complex nature of parent-child relations in this clinical population. Results from this study suggest potential points of intervention to help support adaptive parenting practices and reduce behavioral difficulties in children with ASD.
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Details
- Title
- A LONGITUDINAL EXAMINATION OF THE RELATION BETWEEN PARENTING EFFICACY AND CHILD BEHAVIOR THROUGH PARENTING FACTORS IN FAMILIES OF A CHILD WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER
- Creators
- Rebecca Ann Lindsey
- Contributors
- Tammy D Barry (Advisor)Christopher T Barry (Committee Member)Masha A Gartstein (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Psychology, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 98
- Identifiers
- 99900606551001842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation