A Pilot Study of Responses to Interparental Conflict in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
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ORIGINAL PAPER
A Pilot Study of Responses to Interparental Conflict in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Naomi V. Ekas1 · Chrystyna D. Kouros2 Accepted: 12 November 2020 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Research supports that parents of children with ASD experience higher rates of marital conflict compared to parents of neurotypically developing (NT) children; however, no known research examining reactions to interparental conflict in children with ASD exists. This study compared emotional, behavioral, and physiological responses to interparental conflict in ASD (n = 21) and NT children (n = 29). Children were presented with videotaped interactions (constructive vs. destructive conflict) of actors and their reactions were measured. Children with ASD reported higher levels of negative emotions following constructive conflict compared to NT children. Parents of children with ASD rated their child’s emotional and behavioral responses to interparental conflict more negatively than parents of NT children. Comparable levels of physiological reactivity were found across both groups. Keywords Autism spectrum disorder · Interparental conflict · Emotional responses · Behavioral responses · Physiological reactivity Approximately 1 in 54 children in the US have autism spectrum disorder (ASD; Maenner et al. 2020), a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impairments in reciprocal social communication and social interaction as well as restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, and activities (APA 2013). Parents raising a child with ASD report lower marital quality (Saini et al. 2015; Sim et al. 2016), and have a higher divorce rate compared to parents of neurotypically developing (NT) children (Hartley et al. 2010). Controlling for marital satisfaction, parents of children with ASD also have more severe and less resolved conflict (Hartley et al. 2017a), and fewer positive couple interactions compared to parents of NT children (Hartley et al. 2017b). No studies to date, however, have directly tested how children with ASD react to their parents’ disagreements. This is a gap in the literature given that interparental conflict has been reliably linked to NT children’s internalizing symptoms (Cummings and Davies 2010; van Eldik
* Naomi V. Ekas [email protected] 1
Department of Psychology, Texas Christian University, TCU Box 298920 Fort Worth, Texas, TX 76036, USA
Southern Methodist University, Texas, USA
2
et al. 2020), and children with ASD show disproportionately higher levels of depression compared to NT children (Hudson et al. 2019). Thus, the present pilot study examined responses to interparental conflict among children with ASD compared to NT children. Although conflict occurs in any close relationship, the way parents handle disagreements can negatively impact the family system, including their children. Interparental conflict characterized by destructive behaviors (e.g., personal insults) is related to children’s adjustment problems (e.g
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