Child behaviour problems and partner mental health as correlates of stress in mothers and fathers of children with autism.
Mom stress links to child behavior and dad’s mental health, but dad stress is about his own head—not the child.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Hastings (2003) asked 36 moms and dads of kids with autism to fill out stress surveys.
The team looked at how each parent’s stress lined up with child behavior problems and with the other parent’s mental health.
What they found
Mothers felt more stressed when kids had big behavior problems and when dads reported poor mental health.
Fathers’ own stress did not track with child behavior or with mothers’ mental health—it tracked with how they felt inside.
How this fits with other research
John et al. (2026) later saw the same mom-behavior link in preschool families and added that dads only stress over behavior, not the full autism profile.
Falk et al. (2014) moved the field forward: parent thoughts and money worries predict stress better than child symptoms, showing Hastings (2003) captured just one slice.
Higgins et al. (2021) showed high parent stress makes moms rate behaviors worse than clinicians do—so the 2003 mom-behavior link may partly reflect stress-colored glasses.
Why it matters
When a mom says her child’s behaviors are overwhelming, check the dad’s mood too—his mental health may be feeding hers. Add a quick father-only screener at intake and share low-burden support options like online dad groups. Reducing his distress could lower hers without a single child intervention.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Previous research has suggested that the mothers and fathers of children with disabilities experience stress differently. Although there has been a great deal of research exploring how children affect parents, there have been many fewer studies of the interrelationships between mothers' and fathers' psychological well-being. METHODS: Eighteen married couples who were the parents of children with autism reported on their stress and their general mental health (i.e. anxiety and depression). Teachers rated the behaviour problems of the children with autism. RESULTS: Mothers and fathers did not differ in their levels of stress and depression, but mothers reported more anxiety than fathers. Partial correlation analyses revealed that child behaviour problems and fathers' mental health were associated with mothers' stress. However, neither child behaviour problems or mothers' mental health was associated with fathers' stress. CONCLUSIONS: Although requiring replication, the results suggest that stress in mothers of children with disabilities may be affected by the psychological health of other family members, whereas fathers' stress is affected more by other factors. Methodological and conceptual issues, and the practical implications of these results are discussed.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2003 · doi:10.1046/j.1365-2788.2003.00485.x