Examination of Parental Tolerance Among Parents of Young Children with and without ASD

Parental tolerance reflects the degree that parents tend to be bothered by childhood behavior. Parental tolerance of childhood disruptive behaviors is an important factor in shaping discipline practices employed by parents in reaction to childhood disruptive behavior. Numerous factors are hypothesized to influence parental tolerance, such as child gender and the presence of developmental delays or other psychiatric conditions. However, little research has explored the variations in parental tolerance across families of children with and without developmental delays. The current study sought to replicate previous findings on gender differences within parental tolerance in a neurotypical sample, as well as assess differences in parental tolerance in families of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). MANOVA results revealed that parental tolerance of childhood misbehaviors significantly differed based on ASD status. Results demonstrated that parents of children with ASD were more tolerant overall of childhood disruptive behaviors compared to children without ASD. The findings from the study reveal important factors that could potentially affect parental tolerance. © 2018, Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature.