Fathers' and mothers' ratings of behavioral and emotional problems in siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder.

The team mailed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire to both parents of the families.

Each family had one child with autism and at least one brother or sister without a diagnosis.

Mothers and fathers filled out the same 25-item checklist about the sibling’s behavior.

Both moms and dads scored the siblings above the trouble cutoff on every SDQ scale.

The two parents only agreed moderately; their numbers lined up about as well as two coin flips.

Fathers saw slightly more conduct problems, while mothers saw more emotional symptoms.

LeFrancois et al. (1993) first showed siblings of autistic kids act out more; Whitehouse et al. (2014) repeats that but adds the father view.

Dudley et al. (2019) later asked the teens themselves and found they feel even more stress than parents notice—an extension, not a clash.

Yorke et al. (2018) pools dozens of studies and proves child problems raise parent stress; the sibling elevations here fit that bigger picture.

Seidman et al. (2012) also found moms and dads score differently, but on their own autism traits; the same parent-sex gap now shows up when they rate siblings.

Always give the SDQ to both parents. If you only collect mom’s form you may miss dad’s sharper view of rule-breaking, or mom’s sharper view of anxiety. When scores differ, probe family stress and schedule a sibling support plan, not just treatment for the diagnosed child.