Table 1 Sociodemographic characteristics of parents of patients with autism spectrum disorder and parents of controls.
Parents of children with ASD, n (%) | Parents of controls, n (%) | p* | Effect size measure** | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
n | 243 | 245 | ||
Age of the child, years (m ± SD) | 7.4 ± 1.8 | 8 ± 1.8 | < 0.001 | 0.348 |
Sex of the child, male | 181 (77.4) | 133 (55.0) | < 0.001 | 0.236 |
First child | 114 (46.9) | 132 (53.9) | 0.124 | 0.070 |
Relationship to the child | ||||
Mother | 127 (52.3) | 112 (45.7) | 0.240 | 0.076 |
Father | 115 (47.3) | 115 (46.9) | ||
Other | 1 (0.4) | 3 (1.2) | ||
Parent’s age group | ||||
18–29 years old | 7 (2.9) | 5 (2.0) | 0.549 | 0.027 |
30 years or older | 236 (97.1) | 240 (98.0) | ||
Parent’s marital status | ||||
Single | 1 (0.4) | 0 (0.0) | 0.425 | |
Married | 234 (96.3) | 234 (95.5) | ||
Widowed | 1 (0.4) | 4 (1.6) | ||
Divorced | 7 (2.9) | 7 (2.9) | ||
Parent’s education, higher education | 206 (84.8) | 208 (84.9) | 0.969 | 0.063 |
Number of children in the household | ||||
1 | 28 (11.4) | 35 (14.4) | 0.199 | 0.098 |
2 | 72 (29.4) | 87 (35.8) | ||
3 | 78 (31.8) | 61 (25.1) | ||
4 or more | 67 (27.3) | 60 (24.7) | ||
Citizenship status | ||||
Qatari National | 21 (8.6) | 7 (2.9) | 0.022 | 0.125 |
Qatari resident | 186 (76.5) | 202 (82.4) | ||
Other | 36 (14.8) | 36 (14.7) | ||
