Parenting Stress, Salivary Biomarkers, and Ambulatory Blood Pressure: A Comparison Between Mothers and Fathers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Abstract

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) may experience higher levels of stress and health problems than parents of children with typical development. However, most research has focused on mothers, with emphasis on parent-reported stress and wellbeing. This study compared parenting responsibility, distress, anxiety, depression, cortisol, alpha-amylase, and cardiovascular activity between 19 mother-father dyads of children with ASD. Mothers reported higher parenting responsibility, distress, anxiety, and depression than fathers, while fathers had higher blood pressure and heart rate variability. Mothers and fathers had lower than average morning cortisol levels, suggesting stress effects on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-axis. Parents of children with ASD may benefit from routine health screening (particularly adrenal and cardiovascular function) and referral for stress reduction interventions or supports.

Salivary Biomarkers in Psychological Stress Diagnosis

“…The stress biomarkers are very important to monitor and prevent stress-related pathologies and in the evaluation of behavioral strategies [1][2][3][4].…”

“…Salivary cortisol level was used as an endocrine marker and salivary alpha-amylase activity as a sympathetic nervous system stress marker [7,19,24]. These salivary biomarkers can provide valuable information about HPA axis and CNS activity, which are activated in response to stress [1].…”

“…Chronic stress has potential to cause health problems. Chronic activation of the stress-response can increase the risk of fatigue, depression, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, ulcers, cognitive decline, cancer, immune function, atopic dermatitis, oral diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, psychological diseases [1]. Stress can alter oral homeostasis and is associated with gingivitis, periodontal diseases; development of halitosis too [11].…”

“…It is crucial to monitor such biomarkers to prevent diseases, stress-related pathologies, to evaluate behavioral strategies or treatments and improve the quality of life in patients. The stress biomarkers are very important to monitor and to prevent [1][2][3][4].…”

Prioritizing Problem-Solving Strategies in Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder; Initial Report from the SMART Initiative, Shiraz, Iran

“…Significantly elevated levels of stress have been consistently reported across many different studies (8) including those involving large-scale populations (9). Mothers appear to show higher levels of stress than fathers, a difference that is less likely to arise with parents whose children have other developmental disabilities such as Down syndrome (10).…”