Relationship Between Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Autism Spectrum Disorder and Parent Stress, Anxiety, Depression, Quality of Life and Social Support.

The study was a survey comparing parents of children with and without reported gastrointestinal symptoms, so it cannot show that gastrointestinal symptoms caused higher parent stress, lower quality of life, or lower social support. Most parents were mothers (390 female and 19 male), so there is little information about fathers. The child gastrointestinal measure was a 35-item Autism Treatment Network inventory that the paper states was not validated, and symptom status was based on parent report. Participants were recruited through schools, ASD service providers, parent support groups, and online forums, which may not represent all parents of children with ASD. Sample sizes varied across analyses, including 409 parents described as participants and 408, 406, or 374 in some tests. The paper does not specify a primary outcome, so it is not clear which finding should be weighted most heavily. No information is provided about severity, duration, or treatment of gastrointestinal symptoms, so it cannot identify which symptoms are most burdensome.

The supplied text lists National University Ireland, Galway as the funder. No other conflicts of interest or author declarations are stated.

Do not conclude that treating a child's gastrointestinal symptoms will reduce parent stress or improve parent anxiety and depression. The study only compared parents of children with and without gastrointestinal symptoms, did not test a gastrointestinal treatment, and found no difference in parent anxiety or depression scores.