Behavioral and emotional problems of toddlers with autism spectrum disorder: Effects of parents' sociocultural level and individual factors.
Toddlers with autism show fewer parent-reported behavior problems when they have stronger adaptive skills and when parents own more books, trips, and degrees.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Maniezki et al. (2021) looked at the toddlers with autism. They asked parents to fill out the CBCL. They also gave the ADOS-2 and checked the kids’ adaptive scores.
The team wanted to know if parent education, income, and the child’s own skills changed how many behavior problems showed up on the CBCL.
What they found
Kids with lower adaptive scores got more problem marks on the CBCL. Surprisingly, parents with more cultural capital—books at home, museum trips—also marked fewer problems.
Some ADOS-2 scores went hand-in-hand with lower CBCL scores, but the link was small.
How this fits with other research
Georgiades et al. (2011) used a bigger sample and found emotional problems are part of autism itself, not extra. Alice’s work agrees: CBCL scores track with core ADOS-2 items.
Shawler et al. (2021) looked at COVID-era families. Low-income homes saw sharper behavior drops. Alice flips the coin: higher parent culture capital predicts fewer reported problems. Together they show money and culture both shape what parents see.
Kurokawa et al. (2021) linked tummy pain and sensory issues to worse CBCL scores. Alice adds low adaptive skills as another child-side driver. Stack all three papers and you get a fuller checklist: ask about income, culture, GI, sensory, and daily-living skills before you trust a single CBCL number.
Why it matters
Next time a toddler’s CBCL looks mild, pause. Ask how many adaptive tasks the child can do and what the parents do for fun learning. A high-culture parent may under-rate problems, while a low-adaptive child may need help even when scores seem okay. Use the ADOS-2 plus a quick adaptive probe before you decide “no behavior needs here.”
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Toddlers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show higher prevalence and severity of Behavioral and Emotional Problems (BEP) than their peers without ASD. AIMS: Investigating the effects of parental factors, i.e., mothers' and fathers' age and Sociocultural Level (Socioeconomic Status, Cultural Capital, and Social Capital), and individual factors, i.e., toddles' age, birth order, general development, autism symptom severity, and adaptive behavior, on the expression of BEP in toddlers with ASD. METHODS: Participants were 148 toddlers with ASD (aged 18-37 months) and both their parents. BEP were measured with the Child Behavior Checklist 1½-5 (CBCL) Syndrome and Pervasive developmental problems (PDD) DSM-oriented scales, general development with the Griffiths Mental Development Scales (GMDS), autism symptom severity with the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-2 (ADOS-2), and adaptive behavior with the Vineland-II Adaptive behavior composite. RESULTS: Vineland-IIAdaptive behavior composite was negatively associated with the majority of the CBCL scales. In contrast, the ADOS-2 Restrictive and repetitive behavior was negatively and the ADOS-2 Social affect, toddlers' age, and birth order were positively associated with only a few of the CBCL scales (e.g., PDD). GMDS scores were not associated with any CBCL scales. Mothers' age and fathers' Cultural Capital and Social Capital dimensions were negatively associated with specific CBCL scales, even when considered in addition to individuals' factors. CONCLUSIONS: Individual and parental factors simultaneously affect the expression of BEP and should be considered for clinical decisions.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2021 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2021.104106