Family Emotional Climate and Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Emily J Hickey, Robert L Nix, Sigan L Hartley
PMID 31077017WHAT IT FOUND
The largest group of families, 43%, showed high warmth and low criticism across parent-child and couple relationships.
Higher child emotional and behavioral problems and parent autism-like traits were linked to more distressed family relationships.
Key findings
01The largest family emotional climate class, 43% of families, had low criticism and high warmth in both parent-child and couple relationships.
02Mothers expressed high criticism more often than fathers toward their child with ASD, 23% vs 14%, and toward their partner, 30% vs 19%.
03Family classes were associated with child emotional and behavioral problems and parent broader autism phenotype traits, but not with ASD symptom severity or an additional affected child.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study had no comparison group, so it cannot say whether these family emotional climate patterns differ from families of typically developing children or children with other disabilities. All family emotional climate, parent autism-like traits, and child emotional and behavioral problem ratings came from parents, which may make associations look stronger. The sample was mostly non-Hispanic White and middle income, and all families were mother-father co-residing couples, so results may not apply to more diverse families. The study did not test an intervention, and it did not report how family emotional climate changed over time. Some classes were small, such as 12% in the Family Distressed class and 8% in the Mother Distressed with Partner class.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that family emotional climate causes ASD or that therapy should target criticism to improve child outcomes. The study did not test an intervention, had no comparison group, and used parent-reported measures.