• Mohammed Saeed Alshahrani and Hasaan Algashmari.
• Department of Family Medicine, Al-Hada Armed Forces Hospital, Taif City, Saudi Arabia.
• J Family Med Prim Care. 2021 Mar 1; 10 (3): 1227-1233.

BackgroundAutistic spectrum disorder (ASD) is a common problem in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. However, little research explored the extent of anxiety and depressive disorders in parents of children with ASD.MethodDescriptive questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey of a sample of parents of children with ASD who attended Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Autistic Centre, Ministry of defense, Taif city.ResultsThe study included (n = 50) parents. The prevalence of mild depression was 30%, whereas the prevalence of moderately severe depression was 68%. Increased ASD severity level was associated with a significant impact on the PHQ-9 total score (level II was 1.293 times level I to have an increased PHQ-9 score, and level III was 1.530 times level I to have an increased PHQ-9 score). Economic status did not significantly alter depressive symptoms.Discussion And ConclusionASD diagnosis in Saudi children is associated with high parental depressive prevalence. However, this result could be bidirectional. Stigma, future-related worry, and stress could mediate parental depressive symptoms. Our findings in Saudi parents of children with ASD corroborate the established association between parental depressive symptoms and ASD severity. Our results corroborated previous findings that neither parental gender nor child gender exert any substantial effect on predictability of depressive symptoms among parents of children with ASD. Comprehensive therapeutic packages for children with ASD should include treatment of emotional problems arising out of carer burden among their parents. Screening for parental emotional problems should be routine in autism treatment facilities.Copyright: © 2021 Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care.

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