Depression and attentional bias to unpleasant stimuli in parents of children with autism

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition that is accompanies by behavioral and cognitive difficulties. Given the diverse problems faced by children with ASD, the prevalence of depression is high in their parents. From a cognitive perspective, attentional bias to sad stimuli is associated with depression. Therefore, the main objectives of this study were to compare the severity of depressive symptoms in mothers and fathers of children with ASD and to investigate the relationship between depressive symptom severity and attentional bias in both groups. To achieve these objectives, a total of 60 parents of children with ASD were selected using convenience sampling. The severity of depressive symptoms in the parents was assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory-II, and their attentional bias was evaluated through the emotional Stroop task. The results indicated that the severity of depressive symptoms was higher in mothers compared to fathers. Both groups exhibited attentional bias towards sad materials; however, the relationship between attentional bias and severity of depressive symptoms was not found to be significant. The attentional bias towards sad stimuli and the vulnerability to depression in parents of children with ASD have been discussed.