Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Aug;54(8):846-53.
doi: 10.1111/jcpp.12035. Epub 2013 Jan 21.

Early sensory over-responsivity in toddlers with autism spectrum disorders as a predictor of family impairment and parenting stress

A Ben-Sasson  1 , T W Soto, F Martínez-Pedraza, A S Carter
Affiliations

Early sensory over-responsivity in toddlers with autism spectrum disorders as a predictor of family impairment and parenting stress

A Ben-Sasson et al. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2013 Aug.

Abstract

Background: Sensory over-responsivity (SOR) affects many individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), often leading to stressful encounters during daily routines.

Methods: This study describes the associations between early SOR symptoms and the longitudinal course of restrictions in family life activities and parenting stress across three time-points in families raising a child with ASD (n = 174). Covariates were child diagnostic severity, emotional problems, and maternal affective symptoms. At time 1 mean chronological age was 28.5 months. Children were administered the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) and Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL). Parents completed the Infant Toddler Sensory Profile (ITSP), Infant-Toddler Social Emotional Assessment (ITSEA), Beck Anxiety Index (BAI), and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Inventory (CES-D) at time 1; and the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) and Family Life Impairment Scale (FLIS) at the three annual time-points.

Results: Latent Growth Curve Models indicated that higher SOR scores on the ITSP at time 1 were associated with higher initial levels of family life impairment and parenting stress and with a smaller magnitude of change over time. These associations were independent of severity of ADOS social-communication symptoms, MSEL composite score, ITSEA externalizing and anxiety symptoms, and maternal affective symptoms as measured by the BAI and CES-D. On average FLIS and PSI did not change over time, however, there was significant individual variability. Concurrently, SOR at time 1 explained 39-45% of the variance in family stress and impairment variables.

Conclusions: An evaluation of SOR should be integrated into the assessment of toddlers with ASD considering their role in family life impairment and stress.

Keywords: ASD; family impairment; parenting stress; sensory over-responsivity; toddlers.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest statement: co-author Alice Carter receives royalties from Pearson Assessment.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A Latent Growth Curve Model of SOR Predicting to FLIS with a Latent Maternal Affective Symptoms Covariate Note. † p <.06. *p <.05. **p <.001. a The negative correlation results from the lower SOR ITSP score denoting a higher frequency and the higher FLIS score denoting more restrictions.
Figure 2
Figure 2
A Latent Growth Curve Model of SOR Predicting to PSI with a Latent Maternal Affective Symptoms Covariate Note. † p <.06. *p <.05. **p <.001. a The negative correlation results from the lower SOR ITSP score denoting a higher frequency and the higher FLIS score denoting more restrictions.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Abidin RR. Parenting Stress Index: Professional Manual. 3rd ed. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc; 1995.
    1. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders—Text revision (DSM-IV-TR; 4th ed.) Washington, DC: Author; 2000.
    1. Barker ET, Hartley SL, Seltzer-Mailick M, Floyd DJ, Greenberg JS, Orsmond GI. Trajectories of Emotional Well-Being in Mothers of Adolescents and Adults with Autism. Developmental Psychology. 2011;47(2):551–561. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Beck AT, Epstein N, Brown G, Steer RA. An inventory for measuring clinical anxiety: Psychometric properties. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 1988;56:893–897. - PubMed
    1. Ben-Sasson A, Cermak SA, Orsmond GI, Tager-Flusberg H, Carter AS, Kadlec MB, Dunn W. Extreme sensory modulation behaviors in toddlers with autism spectrum disorders. American Journal of Occupational Therapy. 2007;61:584–592. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources