Aggression Is Associated With Social Adaptive Functioning in Children With ASD and Anxiety.

The team asked parents to list the best things about their autistic child. They also filled out the CBCL, a checklist of problem behaviors.

Parents of kids aged 3-11 took part. The goal was to see if heavy problem scores changed how often parents named strengths like love or humor.

Parents kept naming strengths across all ages. Yet each jump in CBCL problem score made parents less likely to list Humanity traits, such as kindness.

In short, the more aggression, anxiety, or hyperactivity parents saw, the harder it was for them to talk about their child’s good side.

Bowen et al. (2012) showed that half of autistic children score in the clinical range for anxiety or ADHD on the same CBCL. Aller et al. (2023) now adds that those high scores also shrink how often parents mention positive traits.

McLennan et al. (2008) found that aggression, anxiety, ADHD, and depression each have their own risk pattern in autism. The new survey echoes this split: only the total problem load, not autism severity itself, dims parental praise.

Kaartinen et al. (2019) showed that boys with lower reactive aggression cooperate better on tasks. Aller et al. (2023) widens the lens, showing that lower aggression (and fewer overall problems) lets parents see and report social strengths in daily life.

If you only ask about problems, you will mostly hear problems. Start intakes with “Tell me three things you love about your child.” This simple prompt captures strengths that high CBCL scores can hide, giving you a fuller picture to build treatment on.