The impact of autism on the family is an area of study that merits further research attention. Much of the existing literature has focused on the parent perspective, with less emphasis on the experiences of other family members, particularly non-autistic siblings. This study aimed to explore the lived experiences of a sample of nine 8- to…

Identifying infants at elevated likelihood for autism and other developmental differences in the first year of life remains a significant challenge. This study explored associations between behavioral differences in infancy and developmental outcomes in toddlerhood. We conducted a secondary data analysis of 256 infants with an older autistic…

Whether altered white matter microstructural property of autistic people also exists in non-autistic siblings is uncertain. The microstructures of a neural tract may not be consistent throughout the whole track. We assessed 38 cognitive-able autistic males (aged 15.8 ± 4.4 years), 39 non-autistic siblings (16.5 ± 5.7 years), and 78 age- and…

Siblings play an important role in shaping the developmental trajectories of individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Having siblings has been associated with better social communication, non-verbal communication, and theory of mind abilities in autism spectrum disorder. However, little is known about the impact of siblings on adaptive skill…

Social support can buffer against stressors often associated with having family members with autism spectrum disorder. This study included 112 parents and typically developing siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder. Relations between self-reported typically developing sibling emotional and behavioral problems and discrepancy between…

Emotion dysregulation is a common challenge for autistic individuals, yet research examining early emotion regulation processes in autism is lacking. The present study examined negative emotion expression and parent-child co-regulatory processes in 18-month-old younger siblings of autistic children (children with an "elevated likelihood"…

Despite the prevalence of studies showing increased stress among mothers of individuals with autism spectrum disorders, few studies have examined general stress among typically developing siblings. This study used an online survey to compare the levels of self-reported stress between adolescent siblings of individuals with autism spectrum disorder…

The expectations and role of families in the care of children with autism spectrum disorder are increasingly important. Nonetheless, no study has thus far explored the perspectives of siblings about the care received by a brother or sister with this disorder. The objective of this study was to fill this gap in the literature. This multicentre…

This study investigated the feasibility of recruiting and assessing infants with prodromal autism characteristics in the first year of life via telehealth. Participants included 41 infants (Mage = 10.51 months, 51.2% female, 80.5% White) whose parents had concerns about social communication delays or autism. All infants met concerns criteria on a…

The two prior studies that have examined associations between the sibling constellation and theory of mind in autism spectrum disorder yielded discrepant findings. Thus, efforts to better understand the sibling-theory of mind link in autism spectrum disorder are necessary. This study examined a sample of prekindergarten- and kindergarten-aged…

Often included within 'high-risk sibling' studies, the Autism Observation Scale for Infants (AOSI) has only one independent replication study and no evaluation with community-ascertained cohorts. We administered the AOSI and established clinical measures with 103 infants (68% male) at 'high autism likelihood' on the Social Attention and…

Parental reflective functioning is defined as holding in mind one's child's thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and intentions and reflecting on how these mental states may be affecting the child's behavior. Although parental reflective functioning is often treated as a stable feature of the parent, there is growing appreciation that it may be shaped by…

Previous research has shown elevated levels of depressive symptoms in typically developing siblings of children with autism spectrum disorders. The current study investigates for associations between the depressive symptoms of school-aged typically developing siblings of children with autism and parental mental health, perceived social support as…

Younger siblings of children with autism spectrum disorders (HR-Sibs) are at elevated risk for social communication deficits and language delays. One way to mitigate this risk early, before these deficits and delays become clear or impairing, may be to equip parents to use the strategies taught through the "Improving Parents as Communication…

This pilot study estimates the effects of family structure on age of diagnosis, with the goal of identifying factors that may accelerate or delay diagnosis. We conducted an online survey with 477 parents of children with autism. In addition, we carried out novel, follow-up surveys of 196 "friends and family," who were referred by…