Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) report significantly higher stress than parents of children with other developmental disorders. Symptoms that overlap with the autism spectrum are often present in other developmental disorders, which could significantly increase parenting stress. Additionally, the severity of ASD symptoms within a group of children with ASD can greatly vary. In the present study, problem behaviors, cognitive and adaptive functioning, and parenting stress were examined in a group of 40 children aged 2-5 years who were referred for an autism evaluation. The children presented with varying levels of symptoms often associated with ASD, and some met criteria for an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis. This approach allowed for both categorical and dimensional consideration of ASDassociated symptoms and the relation to parenting stress in children with and without autism. When examined based on ultimate clinical diagnosis of ASD or non-ASD, child behavior problems and parenting stress were similar across groups. Clinicianbased autism severity ratings (based on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule) did not significantly predict parenting stress; however, parental report of the severity of ASD-associated symptoms (from the Social Responsiveness Scale) showed a significant relation to stress. Cognitive ability did not uniquely contribute to stress. Problem behaviors as assessed by the Child Behavior Checklist accounted for the largest proportion of the variance in parenting stress; adaptive behaviors and severity of parent-or clinician-rated autism-associated symptoms did not uniquely contribute above and beyond problem behaviors. Parents who reported more behavior problems or more autism-associated symptoms reported higher parenting stress. Clinical applications and the need for more research on parenting stress and problem behaviors in children displaying autism symptomatology are highlighted. J Dev Phys Disabil

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