Parent–child similarity on autism and ADHD traits and children's social functioning and psychological well-being at 3 years

Daniel L. Wechsler; Emily J.H. Jones; Greg Pasco; Tessel Bazelmans; Jannath Begum-Ali; Mark H. Johnson; Tony Charman; The BASIS/STAARS Team; Mary Agyapong; Anna Blasi; Patrick Bolton; Celeste Cheung; Kim Davies; Mutluhan Ersoy; Janice Fernandes; Laurel Fish; Isobel Gammer; Amy Goodwin; Hanna Halkola; Alexandra Hendry; Rebecca Holman; Michelle Liew; Helen Maris; Luke Mason; Nisha Narvekar; Andrew Pickles; Erica Salomone

doi:10.1111/jcpp.70014

Parent–child similarity on autism and ADHD traits and children's social functioning and psychological well-being at 3 years

Rebecca Holman, Michelle Liew, Helen Maris, Luke Mason, Nisha Narvekar, Andrew Pickles, Erica Salomone

^*Corresponding author for this work

Birkbeck, University of London
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

6 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Background

There is a pressing need for research on neurodevelopmental conditions to focus on predictors of resilient or positive outcomes, rather than core symptoms and impairment. One promising avenue is to consider whether child–parent similarity contributes to a protective family environment. For instance, investigations of the similarity–fit hypothesis have shown that parent–child attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) trait similarity is associated with more favourable parent or child ratings of parenting and parent–child interaction. However, very little similarity–fit research has focused on autism, and none to date has investigated whether parent–child trait similarity is more broadly predictive of children's outcomes beyond parent–child interaction. We assessed whether parent–child autism and ADHD trait similarity predicted children's social functioning and psychological well-being in early childhood in a family history cohort.

Methods

Our analytic sample comprised 222 children (45.5% female) and their parents from a longitudinal family history (autism and/or ADHD) cohort. A novel parent–child trait similarity measure was computed for autism and ADHD traits in each parent–child pair, and robust hierarchical regression was used to assess whether mother–child and father–child autism and ADHD similarity predicted children's social functioning and psychological well-being at age 3 years, after accounting for the main effects of parent and child traits.

Results

Mother–child autism trait similarity positively predicted both social functioning and psychological well-being in children, while mother–child ADHD trait similarity positively predicted children's social functioning (but not well-being). Furthermore, father–child autism trait similarity positively predicted children's social functioning, though it fell just short of statistical significance in outlier-robust regression.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that parent–child neurodevelopmental trait similarity may act as a protective or promotive factor for children's early social functioning and psychological well-being. Further work is warranted to determine whether there are similar effects in later childhood and to investigate the potential mechanisms underlying similarity–fit effects on children's outcomes.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1818-1828
Number of pages	11
Journal	Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines
Volume	66
Issue number	12
Early online date	11 Jul 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.70014
Publication status	Published - Dec 2025

Keywords

ADHD
Autism
parent–child similarity
positive development
resilience

Access to Document

10.1111/jcpp.70014Licence: CC BY

Parent–child similarity on autism_WECHSLER_Publishedonline11July2025_GOLD_VoR (CC BY)Final published version, 469 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

Wechsler, D. L., Jones, E. J. H., Pasco, G., Bazelmans, T., Begum-Ali, J., Johnson, M. H., Charman, T., The BASIS/STAARS Team, Agyapong, M., Blasi, A., Bolton, P., Cheung, C., Davies, K., Ersoy, M., Fernandes, J., Fish, L., Gammer, I., Goodwin, A., Halkola, H., ... Salomone, E. (2025). Parent–child similarity on autism and ADHD traits and children's social functioning and psychological well-being at 3 years. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 66(12), 1818-1828. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.70014

@article{12ff12fa4f63410ab3a8a5553ec18907,

title = "Parent–child similarity on autism and ADHD traits and children's social functioning and psychological well-being at 3 years",

abstract = "BackgroundThere is a pressing need for research on neurodevelopmental conditions to focus on predictors of resilient or positive outcomes, rather than core symptoms and impairment. One promising avenue is to consider whether child–parent similarity contributes to a protective family environment. For instance, investigations of the similarity–fit hypothesis have shown that parent–child attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) trait similarity is associated with more favourable parent or child ratings of parenting and parent–child interaction. However, very little similarity–fit research has focused on autism, and none to date has investigated whether parent–child trait similarity is more broadly predictive of children's outcomes beyond parent–child interaction. We assessed whether parent–child autism and ADHD trait similarity predicted children's social functioning and psychological well-being in early childhood in a family history cohort. MethodsOur analytic sample comprised 222 children (45.5\% female) and their parents from a longitudinal family history (autism and/or ADHD) cohort. A novel parent–child trait similarity measure was computed for autism and ADHD traits in each parent–child pair, and robust hierarchical regression was used to assess whether mother–child and father–child autism and ADHD similarity predicted children's social functioning and psychological well-being at age 3 years, after accounting for the main effects of parent and child traits. ResultsMother–child autism trait similarity positively predicted both social functioning and psychological well-being in children, while mother–child ADHD trait similarity positively predicted children's social functioning (but not well-being). Furthermore, father–child autism trait similarity positively predicted children's social functioning, though it fell just short of statistical significance in outlier-robust regression. ConclusionsOur findings suggest that parent–child neurodevelopmental trait similarity may act as a protective or promotive factor for children's early social functioning and psychological well-being. Further work is warranted to determine whether there are similar effects in later childhood and to investigate the potential mechanisms underlying similarity–fit effects on children's outcomes.",

keywords = "ADHD, Autism, parent–child similarity, positive development, resilience",

author = "Wechsler, \{Daniel L.\} and Jones, \{Emily J.H.\} and Greg Pasco and Tessel Bazelmans and Jannath Begum-Ali and Johnson, \{Mark H.\} and Tony Charman and \{The BASIS/STAARS Team\} and Mary Agyapong and Anna Blasi and Patrick Bolton and Celeste Cheung and Leila Dafner and Kim Davies and Mayada Elsabbagh and Mutluhan Ersoy and Janice Fernandes and Laurel Fish and Isobel Gammer and Teodora Gliga and Amy Goodwin and Jeanne Guiraud and Rianne Haartsen and Hanna Halkola and Alexandra Hendry and Rebecca Holman and Sarah Kalwarowsky and Anna Kolesnik and Michelle Liew and Sarah Lloyd-Fox and Helen Maris and Luke Mason and Nisha Narvekar and Louise O'Hara and Andrew Pickles and Laura Pirazzoli and Helena Ribeiro and Erica Salomone and Chlo{\"e} Taylor and Leslie Tucker",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 The Author(s). Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry published by John Wiley \& Sons Ltd on behalf of Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.",

year = "2025",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1111/jcpp.70014",

language = "English",

volume = "66",

pages = "1818--1828",

journal = "Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines",

issn = "0021-9630",

number = "12",

}

Wechsler, DL , Jones, EJH , Pasco, G, Bazelmans, T, Begum-Ali, J, Johnson, MH, Charman, T, The BASIS/STAARS Team, Agyapong, M , Blasi, A , Bolton, P , Cheung, C, Davies, K, Ersoy, M , Fernandes, J , Fish, L , Gammer, I , Goodwin, A , Halkola, H , Hendry, A , Holman, R, Liew, M, Maris, H , Mason, L , Narvekar, N , Pickles, A & Salomone, E 2025, 'Parent–child similarity on autism and ADHD traits and children's social functioning and psychological well-being at 3 years', Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, vol. 66, no. 12, pp. 1818-1828. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.70014

TY - JOUR

T1 - Parent–child similarity on autism and ADHD traits and children's social functioning and psychological well-being at 3 years

AU - Wechsler, Daniel L.

AU - Jones, Emily J.H.

AU - Pasco, Greg

AU - Bazelmans, Tessel

AU - Begum-Ali, Jannath

AU - Johnson, Mark H.

AU - Charman, Tony

AU - The BASIS/STAARS Team

AU - Agyapong, Mary

AU - Blasi, Anna

AU - Bolton, Patrick

AU - Cheung, Celeste

AU - Dafner, Leila

AU - Davies, Kim

AU - Elsabbagh, Mayada

AU - Ersoy, Mutluhan

AU - Fernandes, Janice

AU - Fish, Laurel

AU - Gammer, Isobel

AU - Gliga, Teodora

AU - Goodwin, Amy

AU - Guiraud, Jeanne

AU - Haartsen, Rianne

AU - Halkola, Hanna

AU - Hendry, Alexandra

AU - Holman, Rebecca

AU - Kalwarowsky, Sarah

AU - Kolesnik, Anna

AU - Liew, Michelle

AU - Lloyd-Fox, Sarah

AU - Maris, Helen

AU - Mason, Luke

AU - Narvekar, Nisha

AU - O'Hara, Louise

AU - Pickles, Andrew

AU - Pirazzoli, Laura

AU - Ribeiro, Helena

AU - Salomone, Erica

AU - Taylor, Chloë

AU - Tucker, Leslie

PY - 2025/12

Y1 - 2025/12

N2 - BackgroundThere is a pressing need for research on neurodevelopmental conditions to focus on predictors of resilient or positive outcomes, rather than core symptoms and impairment. One promising avenue is to consider whether child–parent similarity contributes to a protective family environment. For instance, investigations of the similarity–fit hypothesis have shown that parent–child attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) trait similarity is associated with more favourable parent or child ratings of parenting and parent–child interaction. However, very little similarity–fit research has focused on autism, and none to date has investigated whether parent–child trait similarity is more broadly predictive of children's outcomes beyond parent–child interaction. We assessed whether parent–child autism and ADHD trait similarity predicted children's social functioning and psychological well-being in early childhood in a family history cohort. MethodsOur analytic sample comprised 222 children (45.5% female) and their parents from a longitudinal family history (autism and/or ADHD) cohort. A novel parent–child trait similarity measure was computed for autism and ADHD traits in each parent–child pair, and robust hierarchical regression was used to assess whether mother–child and father–child autism and ADHD similarity predicted children's social functioning and psychological well-being at age 3 years, after accounting for the main effects of parent and child traits. ResultsMother–child autism trait similarity positively predicted both social functioning and psychological well-being in children, while mother–child ADHD trait similarity positively predicted children's social functioning (but not well-being). Furthermore, father–child autism trait similarity positively predicted children's social functioning, though it fell just short of statistical significance in outlier-robust regression. ConclusionsOur findings suggest that parent–child neurodevelopmental trait similarity may act as a protective or promotive factor for children's early social functioning and psychological well-being. Further work is warranted to determine whether there are similar effects in later childhood and to investigate the potential mechanisms underlying similarity–fit effects on children's outcomes.

AB - BackgroundThere is a pressing need for research on neurodevelopmental conditions to focus on predictors of resilient or positive outcomes, rather than core symptoms and impairment. One promising avenue is to consider whether child–parent similarity contributes to a protective family environment. For instance, investigations of the similarity–fit hypothesis have shown that parent–child attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) trait similarity is associated with more favourable parent or child ratings of parenting and parent–child interaction. However, very little similarity–fit research has focused on autism, and none to date has investigated whether parent–child trait similarity is more broadly predictive of children's outcomes beyond parent–child interaction. We assessed whether parent–child autism and ADHD trait similarity predicted children's social functioning and psychological well-being in early childhood in a family history cohort. MethodsOur analytic sample comprised 222 children (45.5% female) and their parents from a longitudinal family history (autism and/or ADHD) cohort. A novel parent–child trait similarity measure was computed for autism and ADHD traits in each parent–child pair, and robust hierarchical regression was used to assess whether mother–child and father–child autism and ADHD similarity predicted children's social functioning and psychological well-being at age 3 years, after accounting for the main effects of parent and child traits. ResultsMother–child autism trait similarity positively predicted both social functioning and psychological well-being in children, while mother–child ADHD trait similarity positively predicted children's social functioning (but not well-being). Furthermore, father–child autism trait similarity positively predicted children's social functioning, though it fell just short of statistical significance in outlier-robust regression. ConclusionsOur findings suggest that parent–child neurodevelopmental trait similarity may act as a protective or promotive factor for children's early social functioning and psychological well-being. Further work is warranted to determine whether there are similar effects in later childhood and to investigate the potential mechanisms underlying similarity–fit effects on children's outcomes.

KW - ADHD

KW - Autism

KW - parent–child similarity

KW - positive development

KW - resilience

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105013773616

U2 - 10.1111/jcpp.70014

DO - 10.1111/jcpp.70014

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105013773616

SN - 0021-9630

VL - 66

SP - 1818

EP - 1828

JO - Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines

JF - Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines

IS - 12

ER -

Parent–child similarity on autism and ADHD traits and children's social functioning and psychological well-being at 3 years

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this