Exploring the Relationship Between Family Experiences and Behavioral Inflexibility in Young Autistic Children

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. one author of this publication is identified as autistic in the project.

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de la Roche, L., Chen, Y., Roncadin, C., D’Angiulli, A., Lee, V., Salt, M., Trinari, E., Carter, M., Koller, J., Fournier, S., Zwaigenbaum, L., McPhee, P. G., Gentles, S. J., Drmic, I., Di Rezze, B., Rosenbaum, P., Mesterman, R., Frei, J., Zubairi, M. S.,..., & Kelley, E. (2025). Exploring the Relationship Between Family Experiences and Behavioral Inflexibility in Young Autistic Children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-025-07027-z

Publication date: 15 Sep 2025 Added to AutiHub: 29 Sep 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) OpenAlex source

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Authors

Publication authors
27
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 27 (3.7%)
  1. Laura de la Roche
  2. Yun‐Ju Chen
  3. Caroline Roncadin
  4. Amedeo D’Angiulli
  5. Vivian Lee
  6. Mackenzie Salt *
  7. Elisabetta Trinari
  8. Melissa Carter
  9. Judah Koller
  1. Sherry Fournier
  2. Lonnie Zwaigenbaum
  3. Patrick G. McPhee
  4. Stephen J. Gentles
  5. Irene Drmic
  6. Briano Di Rezze
  7. Peter Rosenbaum
  8. Ronit Mesterman
  9. Julia Frei
  1. Mohammad S Zubairi
  2. Katholiki Georgiades
  3. Eric Duku
  4. Teresa Bennett
  5. Ana Hanlon-Dearman
  6. Jonathan Lai
  7. Deepa Singal
  8. Stelios Georgiades
  9. Elizabeth Kelley

Abstract

Behavioral inflexibility (BI) is a known challenge for many Autistic individuals and refers to rigid behavioral patterns not easily adapted across changing situations. While the associations between BI and specific autism characteristics are established, research on the possible impact of young children's BI on familial functioning is limited. To fill the gap, the current study explored the associations between BI and parent-reported family experiences. Participants were 132 families with an Autistic child (M = 3.73 years, SD = 0.84); sample size was determined sufficient to detect a medium effect size (i.e., 0.06 < R2 < 0.11). Measures included the Behavioral Inflexibility Scale (BIS), Autism Family Experience Questionnaire (AFEQ), Autism Impact Measure-communication subscale (AIM), and a sociodemographic questionnaire. After controlling for socioeconomic status, sex, and social-communication symptom severity, (with Benjamini-Hochberg correction), BI was not significantly associated with parenting an Autistic child, but was significantly associated with family life. Our mixed findings may be partially due to the young age of our sample. It is possible that an association between BI and specific family experiences, such as parenting experiences, may not emerge until later years but this needs to be examined. Further understanding of the relationship between BI and family experiences, notably the developmental trajectory of this relationship, may inform understanding of social dynamics, familial supports, and resources for families with Autistic children.

Bibliography cited by this reference

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Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 2 Oct 2026 01:01.

Cited references
24
With a DOI
23
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
1
1 / 24 (4.2%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
1 / 24 (4.2%)
References with detected author names
23 / 24 (95.8%)
Without detected author names
1
Without a structured title
1
Without a stable identifier
1
References with raw author names still to review
1
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
139
From DOI or external metadata
139
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
1
65 / 139 (46.8%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 74 / 139 (53.2%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
1 / 139 (0.7%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 1 / 65 (1.5%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 1 / 122 (0.8%).
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