An Examination of Specific Child Behavior Problems as Predictors of Parenting Stress Among Families of Children With Pervasive Developmental Disorders

Introduction: Studies have shown that parents of children with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) exhibit higher levels of stress than parents of typically developing children or children with other types of developmental delays (DD). This relationship appears to be mediated by elevated levels of behavior problems observed in children with PDD. However, little is known about what specific child behavior problems are most common in this population or how these behavior problems relate to parental stress. We examined the relationship between parenting stress and child behavior problems in parents of young children with PDD. Method: The current study utilized data from the Mindful Awareness for Parenting Stress (MAPS) project and included 72 parents of children with PDD. The mean age of the parents in the current study was 34.81 years (SD = 7.67) and the mean age of the children was 3.86 years (SD = 0.98). Results: The most commonly endorsed classes of child behavior problems included attention ...