Parents on the autism continuum: Links with parenting efficacy

• Parenting efficacy was explored in a large sample of families with and without a person with ASD (N = 346).
• Fathers diagnosed with ASD had lower parental efficacy than fathers in other groups and women with comparable AQ scores.
• A therapeutic focus on building father’s parenting efficacy may be valuable for some families affected by ASD.

The extent to which parental traits of autism are related to parenting efficacy has yet to be explored. Parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) were studied in three groups: (a) families in which both the parent and the child had a DSM-IV-TR ASD diagnosis (n = 109); (b) families in which only the child had a DSM-IV-TR ASD diagnosis (n = 128); and (c) families in which no member had ASD (n = 109). Each subject completed the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) and a measure of parenting efficacy. Fathers with ASD had the lowest parental efficacy, but mothers with ASD had comparable levels of parental efficacy to parents without ASD in the family. Results suggest that screening and intervention to build fathers parental efficacy may be a useful adjunct to therapy.