Severity of Child Autistic Symptoms and Parenting Stress in Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Japan and USA: Cross-Cultural Differences
Table 1
Comparison of child and parent characteristics in the U.S. and Japan.
Variable
United States (n = 52)a
Japan (n = 51)
Test statisticc(df)
value
Children
Gender
0.08 (1)
0.772
Male
41 (78.9)
39 (76.5)
Female
11 (21.2)
12(23.5)
Age
0.56 (2)
0.754
Preschool (0–5.5 years)
23 (44.2)
20 (39.2)
Lower middle childhood (5.5–9 years)
17 (32.7)
16 (31.4)
Upper middle childhood (9.1–12 years)
12 (23.1)
15 (29.4)
Number of Sibling
6.72 (2)
0.034
0
11 (21.2)
21 (41.2)
1
25 (48.1)
23 (45.1)
2 or more
16 (30.8)
7 (13.7)
Parent
Maternal age (years), (Mean ± SD)
37.2 ± 5.6
41.5 ± 5.3
−4.01 (101)
<0.001
Household Income levelb
2.37 (2)
0.299
Low (<$25 k or <2500 k yen)
4 (7.7)
4 (7.8)
Medium ($25 k-$75 k or 2500 k–7500 k yen)
20 (38.5)
27 (52.9)
High (> $75 k or 7500 k yen)
28 (53.8)
20 (39.2)
Parental educational score, Median ± IQR
(3.0 ± 0.5)
(2.2 ± 1.0)
−2.43c
0.017
Parental occupational score, Median ± IQR
(2.3 ± 1.00)
(2.0 ± 0.5)
−1.99c
0.049
SES based on socioeconomic score
7.27 (1)
0.007
Low (SES score <7)
14 (26.9)
27 (52.9)
High (SES score ≥7)
38 (73.1)
24 (47.1)
Maternal Stress measured by PSI score, Mean ± SD
Total Score
82.1 ± 23.6
80.9 ± 27.1
0.24 (101)
0.812
≥85 percentile
33 (63.46)
36 (70.59)
<85 percentile
19 (36.54)
15 (29.41)
Child domain
91.7 ± 17.4
87.00 ± 23.3
1.16 (101)
0.248
≥85 percentile
45 (86.54)
41 (80.39)
<85 percentile
7 (13.46)
10 (19.61)
Parental Domain
64.5 ± 32.0
68.5 ± 32.1
−0.63 (101)
0.527
≥85 percentile
24 (46.15)
24 (47.06)
<85 percentile
28 (53.85)
27 (52.94)
Note. Data are reported as frequencies (percentages), otherwise as indicated, IQR: interquartile range, df: degree of freedom, SES: socioeconomic status, and PSI: parenting stress index. aIt included 38 non-Hispanic white American, six Hispanic/Latino Americans, six Black/African Americans, one Middle Eastern American, and one with no answer. bThe three levels of Japanese income were created based on the Japanese yen to U.S. dollars currency exchange (1 dollar = 111 yen from 2014 to 2017). Because our income question answers only contain numbers for every $25 k (or 2500 k yen), we decided to calculate the Japanese income levels as 1 dollar = 100 yen. cZ-score from Mann–Whitney Wilcoxon Test. cBased on t-value for the comparison of continuous variables, and chi-2 value for the comparison of categorical variables.
