3 - (SYM 79) Exploring Correlates of Autistic Youth Aggression and Disruptive Behaviors in a Racially and Ethnically Minoritized Sample: Family Support, Stress, and Quality Time

Many families with autistic children experience increased rates of aggressive and disruptive behavior in the first few years of the child’s life as compared to non-autistic child samples. While a great deal of research has been dedicated to the social ecology of families of White autistic youth and how that impacts childhood aggression, less time has been spent on understanding the unique needs and presentations of families from minoritized ethnic and racial populations. For majority White samples, previous research has demonstrated the link between parental stress and quality time spent between parents and their autistic children. Further, parental support has also been explored in samples of parents of White autistic children. Yet, little is known how families from racially and ethnically minoritized populations interact with their autistic youth and how this may affect the presentation of aggression in children. Given that the intersectionality of historically marginalized identities can often exacerbate the challenges in getting families connected with quality, culturally informed care, focusing on families of autistic youth from the global majority may be the first step in acknowledging how we, as providers, can do a better job serving our often-underserved autistic children.

The following study included autistic children (N = 170) identifying as Latinx (n = 90; 53%), Asian (n = 24; 14%), Black (n = 50; 29%), Native American or Alaskan (n = 18; 11%), and Hawaiian or Pacific Islander (n = 6; 4%). Family ecological factors including parental support (MSPSS), stress (PSI), and quality time spent with child (research team created measure) were explored to determine if they were correlated with child levels of aggression (CSHARP Verbal Aggression; CSHARP Physical Aggression) and disruptive behavior (ECBI Intensity). Outcomes yielded a significant relation between parental total support and child disruptive behavior (p < .001) as well as for child physical aggression (p = .010). Significant relations were also found between parental stress and child disruptive behavior (p < .001) as well as verbal (p < .001) and physical (p < .001) aggression. Lastly, no relations were found between quality time that parents were enjoying with their children and child’s disruptive behavior, physical aggression, or verbal aggression (p’s > .05). Future directions will be discussed.