Table 2.
Total caregiver strain, caregiver-reported ASD severity, ASD-related major adversities, and sleep quality stratified by AIM score quartile
| Characteristic | 1st Quartile | 2nd Quartile | 3rd Quartile | 4th Quartile | Overall | p valuea |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | 801 | 783 | 781 | 785 | 3,150 | |
| Total caregiver strain (CGSQ-SF7) scoreb median [IQR] | 15 [11–19] | 20 [16–24] | 22 [18–27] | 27 [23–31] | 21 [16–27] | < 0.0001 |
| Caregiver impression of overall ASD severity (CaGI-S), n (%) | < 0.0001 | |||||
| Not at all severe | 463 (58.3) | 165 (21.2) | 68 (8.7) | 22 (2.8) | 718 (22.9) | |
| Somewhat severe | 260 (32.7) | 381 (49.0) | 308 (39.6) | 144 (18.4) | 1,093 (34.9) | |
| Moderately severe | 67 (8.4) | 198 (25.5) | 340 (43.7) | 377 (48.3) | 982 (31.4) | |
| Very severe | 4 (0.5) | 27 (3.5) | 55 (7.1) | 168 (21.5) | 254 (8.1) | |
| Extremely severe | 0 (0.0) | 6 (0.8) | 7 (0.9) | 70 (9.0) | 83 (2.7) | |
| Child is verbal, n (%) | 786 (98.1) | 718 (91.7) | 683 (87.6) | 538 (68.8) | 2,725 (86.6) | < 0.0001 |
| Other mental comorbidities present, n (%) | 374 (47.7) | 409 (53.5) | 435 (57.6) | 413 (55.1) | 1,631 (53.4) | 0.001 |
| Child eloped, n (%) | 62 (7.8) | 131 (16.8) | 209 (26.9) | 332 (42.5) | 734 (23.4) | < 0.0001 |
| Child hospitalized for mental health care, n (%) | 9 (1.1) | 20 (2.6) | 21 (2.7) | 21 (2.7) | 71 (2.3) | 0.068 |
| Child seen in ER for mental health care, n (%) | 19 (2.4) | 26 (3.3) | 39 (5.0) | 37 (4.7) | 121 (3.8) | 0.019 |
| Child suspended or expelled from school, n (%) | 39 (4.9) | 39 (5.0) | 61 (7.8) | 51 (6.5) | 190 (6.0) | 0.046 |
| Caregiver sleep qualityc median [IQR] | 4 [3, 6] | 5 [3.2, 6] | 5 [4, 7] | 6 [5, 7] | 5 [4, 7] | < 0.0001 |
| Child sleep qualityc median [IQR] | 3 [2, 5] | 4 [3, 6] | 5 [3, 6] | 5 [4, 7] | 4 [3, 6] | < 0.0001 |
Ranges of the AIM distribution quartiles: 1st: (83–168), 2nd: (168–206), 3rd: (206–244), 4th: (244–410). Higher AIM scores indicate increased ASD symptom impact and frequency
AIM Autism Impact Measure, ASD autism spectrum disorder, CaGI-S Caregiver-reported Global Impression of Severity Autism survey, CGSQ-SF7 Caregiver Strain Questionnaire-Short form 7, ER emergency room, IQR interquartile range
ap values from Fisher’s exact tests and Kruskal–Wallis tests for categorical and numeric variables respectively
bTotal caregiver strain (CGSQ-SF7) score range 7–35 with higher scores indicating greater strain
cSleep quality scores range from 1 (“Best possible”) to 10 (“Worst possible”)