A validation study of the Chinese version of the Autism Parenting Stress Index (C-APSI) in Hong Kong

Background: Parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders are facing higher parenting distress than typical parents. Despite its economic prosperity, Hong Kong has only recently developed an early intervention service by the government for children with autism. Such a change provides an opportunity to develop better psychometric screening measuring parenting distress. Existing scales measuring parenting distress are often found to have high monetary and time costs, resulting in parent distress being neglected in treatment planning. Method: To address this as well as language-based challenges, a Chinese version of an existing 13-item Autism Parenting Stress Index (C-APSI) was developed and validated in a Hong Kong clinical (n = 112) and control (n = 65) samples. Results: The translated version showed satisfactory test-retest reliabilities. Although the previously found factor structure could not be replicated, the scale's internal consistency and test-retest reliability was satisfactory. Parenting distress did not correlate with objective measures of cognitive functioning, but it did with subjective reports of daily functioning of autistic children, age of parents and family income. Implications: The current study bridges the gap for the need of a validated scale for screening or quick assessment for Hong Kong Chinese parents with autistic children. The marked difference in mean scores compared to the US sample suggests cultural differences in how parents perceive the distress arising from taking care of their children.