Cameron Neece

• Ph.D
• Professor (Full) at Loma Linda University

Behavior problems are common among young autistic children and are related to elevated parenting stress levels among their caregivers. However, previous studies of this population have rarely examined relations between child behavior problems and parenting stress at a daily level and, to date, have not examined how these relations may differ for La...

Objectives Parents of autistic children experience elevated stress relative to parents of children with neurotypical development and children with other intellectual and developmental disabilities. Adverse effects of parenting stress on parent, child, and family functioning may be especially heightened for marginalized families. We conducted a rand...

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) report increased distress relative to parents of children with neurotypical development. Parent well-being is generally considered a key determinant of parenting behavior, thus increased distress may spill over into less optimal parenting in families of children with ASD. However, evidence is...

Relative to parents of children with neurotypical development and other developmental disabilities, parents of autistic children experience higher levels of parenting stress, which are associated with deleterious consequences for parents’ mental and physical health and child functioning. Despite urgent calls to action, parenting stress is rarely ad...

Hispanic/Latinx parents of children with developmental delays/disabilities (DD) face disparities in service access and research participation. In the present study, 60 Spanish-speaking caregivers of young children with DD participated in randomly assigned stress reduction interventions (psychoeducation/support groups or Mindfulness-Based Stress Red...

Objective: The Emotion Dysregulation Inventory (EDI) was designed and validated to quantify emotion dysregulation (ED) in ages 6+. The purpose of this study was to adapt the EDI for use in young children (EDI-YC). Method: Caregivers of 2139 young children (ages 2-5) completed 48 candidate EDI-YC items. Factor and item response theory (IRT) analy...

Background: Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are at-risk for sleep and behavior problems, and their parents are at-risk for high stress. Child sleep duration, behavior problems, and parenting stress are interrelated; however, directionality of these associations is unclear and research including youth with ASD is lacking. Using a day-to-d...

Parents play a significant role in shaping children’s behaviors and their responses to emotions. Research has established a strong, bi-directional effect between parenting stress and children’s challenging behaviors. Research also suggests the ways in which parents respond to their own emotions to accomplish goals, termed emotion regulation (ER), m...

The rapid transition to virtual learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic created unprecedented challenges that significantly impacted caregivers of young children, particularly those with developmental delays and children from non-English speaking households (Valicenti-McDermott et al., 2022). The current study aims to describe caregivers’ concerns re...

Parents of children with developmental delay (DD) report significantly higher levels of parenting stress compared to parents of children with typical development. There is a heightened need for social support among families of children with DD. Siblings play an important role in these contexts as a supportive resource and primary stress buffer. Lit...

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are at a higher risk for developing co-occurring anxiety symptoms and diagnosable anxiety disorders compared to children with neurotypical development (NTD). The objective of the current study was to characterize the prevalence and phenomenology of anxiety in preschool-aged children with ASD. Our samp...

Objective: Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are at risk for sleep and behavior problems, and their parents are at risk for high stress. Child sleep, behavior problems, and parenting stress are interrelated; however, the directionality of these associations is unclear and research including youth with ASD is lacking. Using a day-to-day, wit...

In-person supports for parents of young children with developmental delay were closed in spring of 2020 in the United States due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When services were disrupted, our team of social workers and psychologists were working with families in the community as part of a research program promoting positive parenting, healthy family a...

Several studies have documented the difficult experience of raising a child with a developmental delay (DD; DeGrace et al., 2014) but the majority of research has focused on non-Latinx White families and their experiences in childrearing and interacting with service providers (Hayes & Watson, 2013; Blanche et al., 2015). Additionally, stigma associ...

Families play an important role in supporting children’s learning and behavioral health. School psychologists are ideally situated to promote family–school partnerships, home–school collaboration, and enhance positive parenting practices on behalf of students. When American schools closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, many families ex...

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience high levels of stress related to their children's symptoms and comorbid behavior problems. Adaptive parental coping in response to child-related stressors is proposed to serve a buffering function, and yet, little research has examined whether coping actually moderates associations...

Introduction: Children with developmental delays (DD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are at a high risk for emotional and behavioral concerns. Research examining co-occurring anxiety in those with ASD during early childhood is scarce. The current study examined rates, symptom manifestation, and parenting risk correlates of anxiety among young c...

Background Obesity rates are higher in children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (DD) compared to typically developing (TD) children. In TD children, family‐based (FB) interventions for obesity are the most effective interventions. Research addressing obesity interventions for children with IDD is limited. Method We adapted a commu...

Background The COVID‐19 pandemic introduced challenges to families with young children with developmental delays. Beyond the widespread concerns surrounding illness, loss of employment and social isolation, caregivers are responsible for overseeing their children's educational and therapeutic programmes at home often without the much needed support...

Mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR) has been shown to reduce stress among parents of children with DD, who often experience higher levels of stress than parents of typically developing (TD) children. The current study examined how parent personality impacted parents' learning and acquisition of mindfulness skills. Participants included 50 par...

Background Many parents of children with developmental delays (DDs) experience high levels of parental stress, and young children with DDs are likely to exhibit clinical levels of behavioral problems. The reciprocal relationship between the two issues makes these families vulnerable to stress-related health risks. To address this, the current study...

Parents of children with developmental delays (DD) report elevated mental health difficulties compared to parents of children with typical development, which appear largely associated with child behavior problems. Latino parents of children with DD may experience heightened risk for poor mental health outcomes due additional stressors associated wi...

Parents of children with developmental delays (DD) report higher levels of parenting stress compared to parents of typically developing children. High levels of parenting stress have been associated with negative outcomes for their children, including higher levels of emotion dysregulation. However, this relationship between parenting stress and ch...

Parents of children affected by developmental delays (DD) have been shown to experience elevated levels of parenting stress compared to parents of typically developing children. Recent studies suggest that higher levels of parenting stress can adversely impact child behavior, such that higher levels of parenting stress are often associated with hig...

Parents of children with developmental disabilities (DD) typically report higher levels of parental stress than parents of typically developing children. While the majority of the literature addresses child behavior problems as predictors of parental stress, research has shown that the relation is bi-directional. However, very little research has e...

Background: Tracking self-efficacy may be useful for identifying children at risk for medical noncompliance. We created the Pediatric Rating of Chronic Illness Self-Efficacy (PRCISE) to measure self-efficacy in youth dealing with a chronic illness. Method: Data were collected from 217 families where one child aged 7-20 (Mage = 13.62, SDage = 2.9...

Parents of children with developmental delays (DD) consistently report higher levels of stress compared to parents of typically developing children. Elevated parenting stress is concerning, not only because of the associated poorer physical and mental health outcomes for the parents, but also because of its role in the development of behavior probl...

Self-reported Parenting Stress and Salivary Cortisol Following Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction

Parents of children with (versus without) intellectual and developmental disabilities report greater stress; such stress may be exacerbated by dissatisfaction with school services, poor parent-school partnerships, and the need for parent advocacy. Increasingly, mindfulness interventions have been used to reduce parent stress. However, it is unclear...

Objective: We explored the relationship between acculturation and parenting stress among parents of children with developmental delays (DD) and investigated family support as a potential moderator. Methods: Participants included 99 parents of young children with DD. Standardized measures were used to evaluate the variables of interest and a multipl...

Parents of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) generally report high levels of parenting stress, although research indicates that the degree of stress parents experience varies by type of stress and child disability. Numerous studies have examined predictors of parenting stress among families of children with IDD, and ch...

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may display an array of externalizing problem behavior including aggression, non-compliance, and defiance. Such problem behaviors are associated with increased stress and depression in parents (e.g., Neece et al., 2012). There is a growing research base examining protective factors in parents, including...

Introduction: Studies have shown that parents of children with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) exhibit higher levels of stress than parents of typically developing children or children with other types of developmental delays (DD). This relationship appears to be mediated by elevated levels of behavior problems observed in children with PDD...

Initial intervention processes for children with intellectual disabilities (IDs) largely focused on direct efforts to impact core cognitive and academic deficits associated with the diagnosis. Recent research on risk processes in families of children with ID, however, has influenced new developmental system approaches to early intervention. Recent...

Parents of children with intellectual disabilities (ID) consistently report higher levels of parenting stress than parents of typically developing children, which has psychological and physical consequences for both the parent and child. Further, high levels of parenting stress are often associated with poor outcomes in behavioral interventions for...

Children and adolescents with intellectual disability (ID) are more likely to have a behavior disorder or mental health problem than their typically developing counterparts. Caregiver stress may be explained, in part, by heightened behavioral problems. Interventions that target the reduction of child problem behavior and parental stress may be espe...

Parents of children with developmental delays (DD) often report significantly heightened levels of stress when compared to families of typically developing (TD) children. While elevated levels of early parenting stress are shown to negatively impact social development in TD children, this effect may be compounded for children with DD, who are alrea...

Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) interventions are popular as a treatment strategy for myriad diagnoses in various settings, and may be beneficial for parents of children with developmental delays (DD). However, prior research suggests extreme levels of stress and extraordinary demands on time among these parents, making the feasibility of...

Having a consistent source of medical care may facilitate diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This study examined predictors of age of ASD diagnosis using data from the 2011-2012 National Survey of Children's Health. Using multiple linear regression analysis, age of diagnosis was predicted by race, ASD severity, having a consistent source...

A number of forms of psychopathology appear very early in life while other mental health disorders develop in adolescents or adulthood. This chapter will review comorbid disorders that occur in childhood. Emphasis on how these disorders are expressed in persons with intellectual disabilities (ID) will be emphasized along with common data-based trea...

Parents of children with developmental delays (DD) often report significantly heightened levels of stress when compared to families of typically developing (TD) children. While elevated levels of early parenting stress are shown to negatively impact social development in TD children, this effect may be compounded for children with DD, who are alrea...

Studies have found that low marital satisfaction, parenting stress, and child behavior problems are linked in families of children with developmental delays (DD). However, previous investigations examining the relationships between parenting stress, child behavior problems, and marital satisfaction rarely examine the interrelationships of these thr...

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have higher rates of depressive symptoms than parents of typically developing children and parents of children with other developmental disorders. Parental depressive symptoms are strongly associated with problem behaviors in children; however, the mechanisms through which parental depression...

Adolescent suicide is a significant public health concern; however, relatively little empirical research has investigated the etiology or effective treatment of adolescent suicidal behaviors. Linehan’s biosocial theory posits that problems with regulating emotions underlie suicidal and self-harm behavior, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) was...

Parents of children with developmental delays (DD) typically report elevated levels of parental stress compared with parents of typically developing children. Children with DD are also at high risk for exhibiting significant behaviour problems. Parental stress has been shown to impact the development of these behaviour problems; however, it is rare...

Children with intellectual and developmental disabilities are at heightened risk for mental disorders. Using current diagnostic criteria, disruptive behavior disorders, specifically Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), appear to be the most prevalent co-occurring disorders. However, the validity of ADHD as a diagnosis for children and a...

Background: Social difficulties have been suggested to be a key area of impairment for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) due to their association with both affective and cognitive deficits (Fein et. al. 1986). Research on the influence of the sibling relationship on social skills has generally focused on children with typical developmen...

Parenting stress and child behavior problems have been posited to have a transactional effect on each other across development. However, few studies have tested this model empirically. The authors investigated the relationship between parenting stress and child behavior problems from ages 3 to 9 years old among 237 children, 144 of whom were typica...

Bullying, despite its pervasive media coverage and many adverse effects, has been examined little in youth with intellectual disability (ID). We assessed the prevalence, chronicity, and severity of bullying of, and by, 46 adolescents with ID and 91 with typical cognitive development (TD). Measures of bullying at child age 13 were derived from separ...

Children with intellectual and developmental disabilities are at heightened risk for mental disorders, and disruptive behaviour disorders appear to be the most prevalent. The current study is a longitudinal examination of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) among children with and without intellectual disability (ID) across ages 5 to 8....

The impact on everyday life for siblings of children with intellectual disability or typical development was examined. Participants were families of children with intellectual disability (n=39) or typical development (n=75). Child behavior problems and sibling impact were assessed at child ages 5, 6, 7, and 8. Results indicate that siblings of chil...

Epidemiological studies of children and adolescents with intellectual disability have found 30 to 50% exhibiting clinically significant behavior problems. Few studies, however, have assessed young children, included a cognitively typical comparison group, assessed for specific disorders, and/or studied family correlates of diagnosis. We assessed 23...

The transition from high school to adulthood is a critical life stage that entails many changes, especially for youth with severe intellectual disability. The transition period may be especially stressful for the families of these young adults, who often experience a sudden change, or decrease, in services. However, little research has examined wha...

This article has no abstract.

Parents of children with intellectual disabilities (ID) typically report elevated levels of parenting stress, and child behaviour problems are a strong predictor of heightened parenting stress. Interestingly, few studies have examined child characteristics beyond behaviour problems that may also contribute to parenting stress. The present longitudi...

This review includes recent research pertaining to family functioning when there is a child or adult offspring with intellectual disability. The purpose was to broaden the examination of families research from an adjustment/coping perspective to consideration of more contextual factors (environment, culture, service delivery). Studies continue to f...