Exposure to family stressful life events in autistic children: Longitudinal associations with mental health and the moderating role of cognitive flexibility

LAY ABSTRACT: Experiencing stressful life events, such as a parent having had serious illness, parental divorce, bullying and victimization, is known to increase risk for mental health difficulties in neurotypical children. However, few studies have looked at whether stressful life events have a similar impact in autistic youth and if any individual characteristics may moderate the impact of said life events. In this study, we tested whether in autistic children aged 7-11 years, exposure to family-level stressful life events predicted later mental health symptoms (and vice versa). We also tested whether associations between stressful life events and mental health symptoms differed depending on the child's level of cognitive flexibility. We found stressful life events only predicted internalizing symptoms (such as anxiety and depression) in children with clinically significant difficulties in cognitive flexibility (as rated by their parents). Mental health symptoms did not predict future exposure to stressful life events. Results suggest that information about exposure to stressful life events and cognitive inflexibility may be helpful in identifying autistic children who may be at risk of developing anxiety and depression symptoms.