title: Parenting Behavior in Mothers of Preschool Children with ASD: Development of a Self-Report Questionnaire.
abstract: Parents of young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) encounter many daily challenges and often experience much stress. However, little research exists about parenting behavior among these parents. With this study, we aim to address this gap. We examined the structure and internal consistency of a questionnaire intended to measure parenting behavior among mothers of young children with ASD. Furthermore, we compared parenting behavior among mothers of young children with and without ASD between two and six years old. Factor analyses resulted in a factor solution with seven subscales of parenting behavior. Two additional subscales especially relevant for parenting preschoolers with ASD were also considered. Analyses of covariance, controlling for gender and age, showed significantly higher scores for Discipline and Stimulating the Development in the control group in comparison with the ASD group. These findings suggest that mothers of preschoolers with ASD are still trying to find strategies to guide and stimulate their child's behavior and development effectively.
authors.affiliation: Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Leopold Vanderkelenstraat 32, P.O. Box 3765, 3000 Leuven, Belgium ; Leuven Autism Research (LAuRes), University of Leuven (KU Leuven), 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Greet
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lambrechts
authors.affiliation: Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Leopold Vanderkelenstraat 32, P.O. Box 3765, 3000 Leuven, Belgium ; Leuven Autism Research (LAuRes), University of Leuven (KU Leuven), 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jarymke
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Maljaars
authors.affiliation: Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Leopold Vanderkelenstraat 32, P.O. Box 3765, 3000 Leuven, Belgium ; Leuven Autism Research (LAuRes), University of Leuven (KU Leuven), 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Hannah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Boonen
authors.affiliation: Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Leopold Vanderkelenstraat 32, P.O. Box 3765, 3000 Leuven, Belgium ; Leuven Autism Research (LAuRes), University of Leuven (KU Leuven), 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Lotte
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: van Esch
authors.affiliation: Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Leopold Vanderkelenstraat 32, P.O. Box 3765, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Karla
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Van Leeuwen
authors.affiliation: Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Leopold Vanderkelenstraat 32, P.O. Box 3765, 3000 Leuven, Belgium ; Leuven Autism Research (LAuRes), University of Leuven (KU Leuven), 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Ilse
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Noens