Determinants of stress in parents of children with autism spectrum disorders.
Fathers entering EIBI report higher stress than mothers, and their stress is tied to autism severity and having a son—screen dads early.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Mélia and her team asked 95 moms and 95 dads to fill out a stress form right when their kids started EIBI.
All kids had autism. The survey checked how tense, tired, or overwhelmed each parent felt.
The researchers then looked at whether child traits—like symptom severity or being a boy—matched higher stress scores.
What they found
Fathers scored higher on stress than mothers in every area.
Dads felt most pressure when their child’s autism symptoms were strong or when the child was a boy.
Mothers’ stress stayed lower and did not rise as sharply with those same child traits.
How this fits with other research
Perzolli et al. (2026) watched Italian dads play with their autistic preschoolers and found two clear styles: high-sensitivity or low-verbal. Their work extends the 2014 finding by showing that stressed dads can still learn to be more sensitive, which lifts child involvement.
Schneider et al. (2006) trained fathers to wait and imitate at home; kids then used more words. This 2006 study acts as a successor—it gives a concrete next step after the 2014 screen flags a stressed dad.
Day-Watkins et al. (2014) ran a family-trait study the same year and saw that dads with broad autism traits had kids with higher severity across all domains. The two 2014 papers dovetail: paternal stress and paternal traits each predict child severity, so dads are key informants in both assessments.
Why it matters
If you run intake for EIBI, give the stress form to fathers first. A high score is a red flag for early parent coaching or respite. Pair that screen with the simple wait-and-imitate script from Schneider et al. (2006) so dads leave with a skill, not just a label.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder are known to experience more stress than parents of children with any other conditions. The current study describes the parental stress of 118 fathers and 118 mothers at the onset of their children's Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention program. The objectives of the study were to compare and analyze each parent's stress and to identify factors that might predict their stress. Results indicated that fathers reported higher levels of stress than mothers. Correlations indicated that the stress levels of both parents were associated with their child's age, intellectual quotient, severity of autistic symptoms, and adaptive behaviors. Paternal stress, but not maternal stress, was predicted by severity of autistic symptoms and child's gender. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for services and early interventions.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2014 · doi:10.1007/s10803-013-2028-z