Parental Psychological Profiles in Autism and Other Developmental Contexts: A Latent Profile Analysis Informing...

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or psychiatric conditions, special education needs and addictions exert substantial demands on families, yet parental psychological functioning remains insufficiently integrated into prevention and family-based support. An in-depth understanding of parental experiences constitutes a cornerstone of family-centered care, given that parental well-being and resourceful functioning exert a direct and enduring influence on both intervention effectiveness and the broader trajectory of child development. This study aimed at identifying latent parental profiles across clinical and typical developmental contexts. Methods: A total of 281 parents of children with psychiatric diagnoses (primarily ASD), special educational needs, addiction, and typical development were assessed for positive and negative functioning. Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) identified psychological subgroups, followed by Welch's ANOVA to determine discriminating variables and multinomial logistic regression to examine sociodemographic and contextual predictors. Results: A three-profile solution emerged: Low well-being, high co-dependency and low resource functioning (50%); High well-being, low co-dependency and high resource functioning (26%); and Moderate well-being, moderate co-dependency and moderately resourceful functioning (24%). Parents of children with psychiatric diagnoses were significantly less likely to belong to the High well-being, low co-dependency and high resource functioning profile, underscoring the heightened psychological vulnerability characteristic of this group. Parents of typically developing children tend to belong to Moderate well-being, moderate co-dependency and moderately resourceful functioning. Conclusions: Parental psychological functioning exhibits heterogeneity across developmental contexts. Although parents of children with psychiatric diagnoses revealed the highest vulnerability, the profiles also revealed substantial psychological strain among parents of typically developing children. These findings highlight the need to shift from child-focused to family-centered prevention and support.