Birth Order Of Child Research Articles

The association between chronotype and sleep problems in preschool children

ObjectiveAdolescents and adults who are evening-types exhibit shorter sleep duration and more sleep problems than individuals with an earlier chronotype. We hypothesized that already at a preschool age, evening-types would exhibit more sleep problems relative to children who are morning or intermediate chronotypes. The aim of this study was to examine the association between chronotype and sleep problems among preschool children. MethodsWe studied a subset of typically-developing 4.5-year-olds taking part in the Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes birth cohort study (n = 244). The Children's Chronotype Questionnaire (CCTQ) was used to categorize children into morning-, intermediate-, and evening-types. Sleep problems were measured using the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ), with higher scores corresponding to greater sleep problems. The relation between chronotype, sleep–wake timing, and nocturnal sleep time was also evaluated in a subsample of 117 children using actigraphy recordings with parent-reported sleep diaries. ResultsAfter controlling for potential confounders (maternal education, child's sex, birth order, and ethnicity), a significant main effect of chronotype on sleep problems was observed, in which evening-types exhibited greater CSHQ scores compared to morning- and intermediate-types (all p < 0.001). Actigraphy data in the subsample confirmed that evening-types had later bedtimes (p < 0.001) and get-up times (p = 0.02) during weekdays and weekends, but shorter nocturnal sleep time (p = 0.034) only during weekdays, compared to children who had earlier chronotypes. ConclusionsIn preschool children, sleep problems were greater in evening-types compared to morning- and intermediate-types, suggesting that chronotype could be a contributing factor to sleep disturbances in early childhood.

Energy-related influences on variation in breastfeeding duration among indigenous Maya women from Guatemala.

The causes of variation in breastfeeding duration in humans are poorly understood, but life history factors related to maternal energetics drive much of the variation in lactation duration in nonhuman animals. With this in mind, we investigated whether four energy-related factors influence variation in breastfeeding duration in a non-industrial human population: (1) mortality risk during mother's development (assessed via mother's adult height), (2) reliance on nutrient-dense weaning foods, (3) access to and need for help with infant feeding and care ("allomaternal care"), and (4) maternal tradeoffs between current and future reproduction (measured via child's birth order). The data pertain to 51 Kakchiquel-speaking Maya mothers and 283 children from a village in rural Guatemala. We developed a linear mixed model to evaluate the relationships between breastfeeding duration and the energy-related factors. Duration of breastfeeding was associated with two of the energy-related factors in the ways we predicted but not with the other two. Contrary to predictions, taller mothers breastfed for shorter periods and we found no evidence that weanling diet quality impacts breastfeeding duration. As predicted, women who had more help with infants breastfed for shorter periods, and later-born infants breastfed longer than earlier-born ones. The results regarding allomaternal care suggest that help reduces mothers' lactation demands. The energy saved may be redirected to increasing fecundity or investment in other children. The birth order result suggests that children born to mothers nearing reproductive senescence receive higher levels of investment, which likely impacts children's fitness.

Being the younger child in a large African Family: a study of birth order as a risk factor for poor health using the demographic and health surveys for 18 countries

One hundred eighty six nations have adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), one of which, SDG 3.2, aims to reduce under-5 mortality to 25 deaths per thousand in all countries by 2030. Achieving this goal is daunting for many African countries, where child mortality remains high. Research around the world and over time has shown an association between birth order and mortality, with later born children (of higher “birth order”) generally having higher mortality, in addition to having less education and fewer health services. We aim to investigate how child mortality and nutritional status vary by birth order in Africa. We obtained data from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) from 18 African countries, one survey in each of the following decades: 1986–1995, 1996–2005, and 2006–2015. We examined mortality for two groups: ages 1–4 and 5–14, using a Cox proportional hazards model. We then examined 4 separate nutritional outcomes for young children using logistic regression. Nutritional outcomes are stunting, low weight, consuming fewer than 4 food groups in the past 24 h, and consuming any fruits or vegetables in that period. Analyses control for country and characteristics of the household, mother, and child. Birth order is significantly related to mortality for both age groups. On average, there is a 13 % increase in mortality risk for each increase in birth order for children ages 1–4, and a 10 % increase in children ages 5–14. Similarly, we find that a higher birth order child is significantly more likely to be stunted (OR 1.08) or of low weight (OR 1.06). Higher birth order children are significantly more likely to consume fewer food groups (OR 1.11) and less often eat fruits and vegetables (OR 1.09). Birth order is significantly related to mortality and nutritional status in large African families, with later born children having poorer outcomes. These data suggest that increased attention to family planning initiatives and targeted nutritional interventions provide clear strategies for meeting the child mortality and nutritional status Sustainable Development Goals in African countries.

Pattern of menarche age (normal, early and late) and its relationship with some demographic characteristics in girls and their parents.

Menarche age is an indicator of a girl's puberty besides the clinical assessment of detecting deviations. This study aimed to search the pattern of menarche age (normal, early and late) and its relationship with some demographic characteristics in girls and their parents. This cross-sectional study was done on girls aged between 9 and 18 years old in Shiraz city. About 2000 students were selected through cluster sampling. Data collection was done by applying a demographic information form. Finally, the data were analyzed using SPSS software. About 1386 students (69.3%) had the history of menarche (at least once). The mean age of menarche was 12.26±1.11 years in Shiraz. The menarche age of the girls ranged from 9 years (as the least) to 15 (as the maximum). The prevalence of late menarche was 1.1%. In addition, no early menarche was reported. There was no relationship between menarche age and economic status, birth order and number of children, but a significant relationship was found between the parents' education, house status, and the lifestyle of parents. The mean menarche age has been decreasing in cities. Therefore, it seems necessary for the families to be aware about the influence of time, trend and affecting factors on menarche; this helps them to make good decisions when educating their teenagers.

Exposure to phytoestrogens in utero and age at menarche in a contemporary British cohort

Background Phytoestrogens are estrogenic compounds that occur naturally in plants. Phytoestrogens can cross the placenta, and animal studies have found associations between in utero exposure to phytoestrogens and markers of early puberty. Methods We investigated the association between in utero exposure to phytoestrogens and early menarche (&lt;11.5 years at onset) using data from a nested case-control study within the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Concentrations of six phytoestrogens were measured in maternal urine samples collected during pregnancy. Logistic regression was used to explore associations between quartiles of phytoestrogen concentrations with menarcheal status, with adjustment for maternal age at menarche, maternal education, pre-pregnancy BMI, maternal age at delivery, child birth order, duration of breastfeeding, childhood BMI Z-score, and child ethnicity. Results Among 370 mother-daughter dyads, maternal geometric mean (95% confidence interval (CI)) creatinine-corrected concentrations (in µg/g creatinine) were as follows: daidzein 184 (162-208), enterodiol 71.5 (64.6-79.1), enterolactone 755 (674-846), equol 5.65 (4.91-6.49), genistein 63.5 (54.9-73.4), and O-desmethylangolensin (O-DMA) 11.2 (9.34-13.5). In preliminary analyses comparing in utero phytoestrogen exposure in the highest quartile (Q4) to the lowest quartile (Q1), no significant associations with onset of menarche were found. Higher O-DMA levels were nonsignificantly associated with early menarche (odds ratio (OR) = 1.51; CI: 0.65-3.29). O-DMA is an intestinal bacterial metabolite of daidzein; not all individuals harbor bacteria capable of metabolizing daidzein to O-DMA. Conclusions These findings suggest that in utero exposure to phytoestrogens may not be associated with earlier age at menarche. Future analyses will examine the associations between phytoestrogens and age at menarche through survival analysis techniques.

Parental coping mechanisms in children with congenital heart disease at tertiary cardiac centre

Background: Congenital Heart Diseases (CHD) are among the most pervasive and serious chronic illnesses. Parents of children with a chronic condition must cope with greater demands and adopt different behaviors in order to lessen the impact on the family structure.Aims and Objectives: This study aims to explore the coping mechanism used by parents of children with CHD.Materials and Methods: This descriptive study included 100 parents of children with CHD selected through non-probability purposive sampling technique. Data were collected by interview and analyzed using descriptive statistics.Result: This study revealed that parents of preschool children used more coping mechanism (mean score 30.53 out of total score 57), followed by parents of adolescence (mean score 30). Parents of first-born children with CHD used less coping mechanism (mean score 28.08). Parents of female children used more coping mechanism (mean score 29.52), fathers of children with CHD used more coping mechanism (mean score 29.78), and parents of operated children used more coping mechanism (mean score 29.11).Conclusion: Parental coping mechanism was found to be affected by age, sex, operative status and birth order of children and also by the sex of parent. These findings strongly indicate the need for proper counseling service to parents so that healthy coping is reinforced.Asian Journal of Medical Sciences Vol.7(4) 2016 75-79

Early Maladaptive Schemas and Aggression Based on the Birth Order of Children

Early maladaptive schemas are patterns or deep, pervasive and dysfunctionalthemes formed in childhood or adolescence, continue in adulthood and act at the deepest level of the cognition and usually the person is not aware of them. Schema makes people prone to aggression, depression, anxiety, poor interpersonal relationships and mental- physical disorders.The aim of this study is to compare early maladaptive schemas and the birth order of children in the formation of aggression. For this purpose, in an ex post facto research, 320 cases usingconveniencecluster sampling were selected from Tehran government girls' high schools and were tested. After screening,160 only child students were selectedrandomly andwere assigned in the first group and in the second group 160 students of the rest were assigned who have been matched with the first group. One-way analysis of variance results showed that early maladaptive schemas and birth order, birth (one's position in the family) are involved in the creation of aggression. According to the findings, we can say that the early maladaptive schemas and birth order of childrenare important factors in the formation of aggression.

Child Adjustment to First Grade as Perceived by the Parents: The Role of Parents' Personal Growth.

The current study aimed at investigating the direct and moderating role of personal growth in a child's adjustment to first grade as perceived by the parents, drawing on Positive Psychology (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, ) and the theory of families as systems (Cox & Paley, ). The sample consisted of 280 Israeli parents (213 mothers and 67 fathers) whose children were in first grade. The participants completed questionnaires relating to background variables of the parent and child, as well as parents' perceived stress, emotional intelligence, perceived child's adjustment to school and personal growth. The findings indicate that a child's entrance into the school system may lead to personal growth in the parents and that variables of both the parent (age and education) and the child (birth order) contribute to this process. Furthermore, among parents with a low level of personal growth, higher emotional intelligence was associated with a more positive assessment of the child's adjustment. The study thus demonstrates that the transition to first grade may serve as a lever for the parents' growth and development, which in turn may affect their perception of their child's adjustment to school. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Competing risks analysis of under-five child mortality in Bangladesh

This study implements an analysis of under five mortality to the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey, 2011 data from a competing risks perspective. Kaplan - Meier overall survival curves along with log-rank test p-values are employed to determine the prospective covariates for the Cox proportional hazard (PH) model. Later the typical Cox PH model is used to model the causespecific hazard for the two competing causes, namely disease and non-disease on the selected covariates. It is revealed that mother’s primary and secondary education, birth order of the index child in case of disease model; mother’s higher education, wealth index of the index child in case of non-disease model and mothers aged greater than 30 years at the time of giving birth, home as a place of child delivery in both model played significant role in decreasing under five child mortality.Bangladesh J. Sci. Res. 27(1): 27-38, June-2014

CHILD LABOR IN PALEMBANG

This research explains the effects of gender, parents’ education, parent’s income, the number of siblings, childbirth order, the presence of parents and patriarchal kinship system on the probability of child labor in Palembang. This study, especially, investigates the probability of children age 7-15 years old to be a worker. It is found that factors that significantly affect child labor are gender, the number of siblings, childbirth order, the presence of parents and patriarchal system. However, parents’ education and income are found to be insignificant in affecting the probability of child labor in Palembang.

Assessment of prevalence of protein energy malnutrition in under 5 year children in an urban slum of Mumbai, India and to study associated factors

Background: In urban slums, several socio-demographic factors contribute for the occurrence of protein energy malnutrition (PEM) in under-five year children, this study aims at Assessment of prevalence of protein energy malnutrition in under-5 year children in an urban slum of Mumbai and to study associated factors. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Urban Slum which is a field practice area of institition.Under-5 children were included in the study and information was gathered by interviewing mother/guardian and recording anthropometric measurement of the child. Data was analysed with SPSS v.16 with suitable tests. Result: Prevalence of PEM was found 56%, more per cent of PEM was found in 13-24 month age 64 (66.7%), 120 (54.1%) boys, 122 (55%) non-nuclear family dwellers, in 126 (56.8%) children whose mothers got married 2, 198(89.2%) children who were not given colostrum and 168 (75.7%) who were not given exclusive breast feeding, in 152(68.5%) children with incomplete immunisation, 122 (55%) children with more than 3 episodes of ARI, 142(64%) with >3 episodes of Diarrhoea. 86 (82.7%) children with PEM belonged to Class V, (B.G Prasad classification), statistically significant association of PEM was found with the factors age of child, mother’s education, birth order, immunisation status, mother’s age at marriage, exclusive breast feeding, history of acute respiratory infection (ARI) and diarrhoea, and socio-economic status. Conclusion: Study has found certain socio-demographic factors like age, gender and birth order of child, type of family, age of mother during marriage and her literacy level, giving colostrum, exclusive breast feeding, immunisation and frequency of ARI and diarrhoea associated with PEM.

An Exploratory Study to Assess Mothers Stress and Coping Patterns whose Children are Suffering with Leukaemia in selected Hospitals of Maharashtra

The study was conducted to assess the mothers stress and coping patterns whose children are suffering with leukaemia in selected hospitals of Maharashtra. The conceptual framework of the study was based on Roy's Adaptation theory (1989). For the present study exploratory approach was considered appropriate. Independent variable included in the study was leukaemia, extraneous variables included were: age, education, occupation, age of child, gender of the child, duration of illness, monthly family income, religion, type of family, number of hospitalization and birth order of child Dependent variables were stress and coping patterns. The tool used had three part: Part I was to obtain personal data, Part II structured Stress Scale which had 30 items and Part III was coping patters checklist (Modified standardized tool by Kiran Rao) and it was further modified by the investigator. A tryout of the tool was done on 6 mothers. Pilot study was done on 6 mothers at Christian Medical Hospital, Ludhiana, Punjab. Final data from sample of 60 mothers was collected from two hospitals from Maharashtra. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data, bar diagrams were used to depict the findings and to interpret the data. The following conclusions were drawn based on the findings of the study i. e. majority of mothers (65%) had moderate level of stress, majority of mothers whose children are suffering leukaemia had adaptive coping patterns, there is a moderate negative correlation between stress and coping patterns of the mothers and there was no significant association of stress and coping patterns with selected variables such as age, education, occupation, age of child, gender of the child, duration of illness, monthly family income, religion, type of family, number of hospitalization and birth order of child.

Breastfeeding among Latino Families in an Urban Pediatric Office Setting.

Objective. To determine the breastfeeding rate of Latino infants at an urban pediatric clinic in the first six months of life and to identify factors associated with breastfeeding. Methods. Investigators conducted a retrospective chart review of infants seen at the clinic in 2014 as part of a mixed methods study. Topics reviewed included demographics, infant health data, and feeding methods at 5 points in time. Bivariate correlations and cross-tabulations explored associations between variables. Results. Most of the mothers (75%) fed their newborns with both breastfeeding and formula (las dos). At 6 months, a majority were formula-fed only (55.9%). Approximately 10% of mothers exclusively breastfed their newborns, and the trend of exclusive breastfeeding remained steady through the 6-month visit. Over time, the number of mothers who exclusively bottle-feed their infants steadily rises. There were no statistical differences among the feeding method groups with regard to birth order of child, number of adults or children in the household, vaccination rate, number of sick visits, or infants' growth. Conclusions. More targeted attention to this population and other immigrant populations with culturally tailored interventions spanning the prenatal to early infancy periods could increase exclusive breastfeeding and ultimately improve child health.

An Epidemiological Study of Nutritional Status of Rural Children in Jaipur District (Raj.)

Background: Uncontrolled fertility in rural areas without the requisite economic and social infrastructure has resulted in a great problem of malnutrition among the under five children of rural population. Their nutritional status is far from being satisfactory. Objectives: To determine the nature and extent of the health and nutritional problems of under-five rural children, to highlight the various factors contributing to the health and nutritional problems, and to develop a project for solving the nutritional and health problems. Method and Material: A cross sectional epidemiological study was conducted in field practice area of Rural Health Training Center, Achrol village, district Jaipur (Rajasthan). The mothers or care givers of under-fives were interviewed and the children were examined clinically with the help of a pre-designed, pre-tested pro-forma after taking informed consent. WHO Child Growth Standards were used to assess the nutritional status of children. Results were subjected to statistical analysis. Results: In present study of rural children, out of 334 children 137 (41.01%) were found to suffer from various grades of malnutrition. Among malnourished 45.98% were male and 54.01% were female under-fives. 42.33% children belonged to nuclear family, 29.92% to joint family and 27.73% children belonged to three generation type of family among the malnourished children. 35.03% of malnourished children were delivered at hospital and remaining 64.96% were delivered at home. Among the malnourished only 5.10% mothers were studied up to secondary and above, a majority i.e. 46.71% were illiterate. 41.60% malnourished children were having three and more siblings. Third and above birth order children suffered more from malnutrition (44.52%). Among malnourished only 12.81% were weaned by 4-6 months.SC (48.17%)/ST/OBC (33.57%) children suffered more from malnutrition than general caste. Malnourished children were from grade I (3.64%), grade II (6.56%), grade III (25.54%), grade IV (29.19%) and grade V (35.03%). Most of the malnourished belonged to the age group 2-3yrs (48.90%) and 3-5yrs (35.03%). 56.93% female and 43.06% male were among the malnourished children. 40.87% malnourished were from grade I, 29.19% were from grade II, 18.24% were from grade III, and 11.67% were from IV grade of malnutrition. Vit. A deficiency was observed in 7.29% malnourished, Vit. D deficiency in 11.67% malnourished, Vit. B. deficiency in 18.97% malnourished, and Protein deficiency was observed in 17.5% of malnourished children in present study. Most of the deficiency signs were seen in 2-3 years and 3-5 yrs age groups. Conclusion: Malnutrition is the most widespread condition affecting the health of children. Scarcity of suitable foods, lack of purchasing power of the family as well as traditional beliefs and taboos about what the baby should eat, often lead to an insufficient balanced diet, resulting in malnutrition. Keywords: Deficiency, Illiteracy, Malnutrition, Under-fives

Direct and Indirect Influence of Interpersonal and Environmental Agents on Materialism in Children

Present study investigates the direct and indirect effect of socialization agents such as family, peer group, television advertisements, and retail stores on pester power and materialism in children. A sample of 319 children in the age group of 7–12 years and 319 parents participated in the study. Children have responded to questions on parenting style, mother’s involvement, television advertisements, retail stores, peer group, and parental guidance. Whereas, parents have responded to questions on family communication pattern, birth order of child, in-school commercialism, pester power, and materialism. The results showed a positive influence of family, peer group, television advertisements, and retail stores on pester power and materialism in children. In the present study, interpersonal agents such as family and peer group have been found to be more influential than environmental agents such as television advertisements and retail stores, because Indian children are risk averse and seek opinion of their parents and peers. They consider informational cues obtained from these socialization agents to be more reliable and authentic to make buying decisions. Therefore, the interpersonal agents have been more influential in shaping the attitude and behaviour of the children.

Explaining the black-white gap in cognitive test scores: Toward a theory of adverse impact.

In understanding the causes of adverse impact, a key parameter is the Black-White difference in cognitive test scores. To advance theory on why Black-White cognitive ability/knowledge test score gaps exist, and on how these gaps develop over time, the current article proposes an inductive explanatory model derived from past empirical findings. According to this theoretical model, Black-White group mean differences in cognitive test scores arise from the following racially disparate conditions: family income, maternal education, maternal verbal ability/knowledge, learning materials in the home, parenting factors (maternal sensitivity, maternal warmth and acceptance, and safe physical environment), child birth order, and child birth weight. Results from a 5-wave longitudinal growth model estimated on children in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development from ages 4 through 15 years show significant Black-White cognitive test score gaps throughout early development that did not grow significantly over time (i.e., significant intercept differences, but not slope differences). Importantly, the racially disparate conditions listed above can account for the relation between race and cognitive test scores. We propose a parsimonious 3-Step Model that explains how cognitive test score gaps arise, in which race relates to maternal disadvantage, which in turn relates to parenting factors, which in turn relate to cognitive test scores. This model and results offer to fill a need for theory on the etiology of the Black-White ethnic group gap in cognitive test scores, and attempt to address a missing link in the theory of adverse impact.

Factors Associated with full Immunization Coverage amongst children aged 12 – 23 months in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe adopted the WHO recommendations to fight childhood vaccine preventable diseases in 1980. However coverage of immunization has not been in line with the global target. This study thus utilized the Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey (ZDHS) data to analyze the variables of immunization status of children aged 12-23 months in Zimbabwe. A multivariate binary logistic regression analysis of the data was performed. The data consisted of 978 children aged 12-23 months from the selected households. Results showed that children of mothers with secondary education and above were more likely to be vaccinated than children of uneducated mothers. Children of the 1st birth order were more likely to be vaccinated than children of birth order 6+. The same positive associations were also observed with Delivery in a health facility, antenatal care visits, frequency of watching television, and wealth status. Regional variations in immunization were also established, at significant level p>0.01. These results depict the importance of socio demographic factors in full immunization and call for increased awareness programs in order to promote completion of immunization schedule.

Dietary diversity, meal frequency and associated factors among infant and young children in Northwest Ethiopia: a cross- sectional study.

BackgroundInappropriate feeding practice increases risk of under nutrition, illness, and mortality amongst children less than 2 years of age. The objective of this study is to assess minimum dietary diversity, meal frequency and its associated factors among infant and young children aged 6–23 months in Dangila Town, Northwest Ethiopia.MethodsA community based cross sectional study was conducted. Simple random sampling technique was used to select study participants. Interviewer administered questionnaire were used. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses was employed to identify factors associated with minimum dietary diversity and meal frequency.ResultsA total of 920 children 6–23 months were included. Proportion of children who met the minimum dietary diversity and meal frequency was 12.6 and 50.4 %, respectively. Mothers education [AOR =2.52], age of a child [AOR = 2.05], birth order of index child [AOR = 2.08], living in urban area [AOR = 2.09], having home gardening [AOR = 2.03], and media exposure [AOR = 2.74] were positively associated with dietary diversity. Moreover, age of the child [AOR = 3.03], birth order of index child [AOR = 1.58], mothers involvement in decision making [AOR = 1.51], media exposure [AOR = 2.62], and having postnatal visit [AOR = 2.30] were positively associated with meal frequency.ConclusionThe proportion of children who received minimum dietary diversity and meal frequency was low. Being at younger age, first birth order, and lack of media exposure affect both dietary diversity and meal frequency. Increasing mother’s education, home gardening, mass media promotion and empowering women in decision making are highly recommended to increase dietary diversity and meal frequency.

A Critical Meta-analytic Exploration of Birth Order Effect on L1 Onset Time of Speaking and Language Development Progression; Is the Pointer towards First or Later Borns?

Among the various underlying issues behind First Language (L1) acquisition processes, child Birth Order (BO) effect is one of the recent revitalized enquires of research of the 1900s but is confounding with many contradictory results in the literature. In this research, the intention was to elucidate if first-born or later-born children typically outperform in their language development processes. To this end, a systematic meta-analytic examination of child BO from 1970 to 2014 was undertaken in major related databases including TIRF, CHILDES, John Wiley, Taylor & Francis, PubMed and Science Direct. Studies in which language development had been mapped on BO effect and published from 1970 were included and the rest excluded from initial data collection. Finally, the research outcomes in which BO effects had been claimed to have caused delayed language development among either of the groups mentioned above have been discussed critically to explicate the existing contradictory findings.

Psychological Distress in Parents of Autistic Children in Baghdad City

Objectives: The study aims to: (1) assess psychological distress in parents of autistic children, (2) identify therelationship between psychological distress and parents' socio-demographic characteristics such as (age, maritalstatus, relationship with child, educational level and monthly income) and (3) identify the relationship betweenparent's distress and some of children' socio-demographic characteristics such as (gender, age, birth order andmean number of children).Methodology: A descriptive–analytical study that was carried out from December 12th, 2011 to May 1st, 2012.on a purposive (non- probability) sample of 120 parents (father and mother) who have children with autism andsend their children to the delayed care centers in Baghdad. Data were collected through the use of theconstructed questionnaire and the process of the self-administrative report. The questionnaire was consisted ofthree parts: parents' socio-demographic characteristics, autistic children' socio-demographic, and parenting stressscale. Content validity of the instrument was determined through the use of panel experts and the internalconsistency of the instrument was determined through the pilot study and the computation of Alpha CorrelationCoefficient (r = 0.83). Data were analyzed through the application of descriptive and inferential statisticalapproaches by using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 16.0.Results: The findings revealed that most of sample were mothers in normal marital status who fall in the agegroup 26-35 years old graduated from institute or college and living in nuclear families with barely sufficientmonthly income. Most of the children were firstborn male fall in the age group of 3-7 years and most of familieshave 1-3 children/family. Parents of autistic children are experiencing moderate level of parenting distress. Thereis strong negative relationship between parents' ages with family type and there is moderate relationship amongother variables. There is positive relationship between parenting stress, child's gender and birth order and there isno relationship with other variables.Recommendations: The study recommended providing adequate knowledge for parents about how to deal withtheir child through sessions and brochure; focusing on coping strategies for parents with autistic child should betaken in consideration by media to decrease distress and further studies should be conducted as survey to includeall over the country.&#x0D;