Background: The increasing prevalence of autism spectrum disorder in children and the huge family burdens have caused concern in the academic field as well as society.
Aim: To study the personality characteristics and neurocognitive functions in the Chinese parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and compare them with the parents of well-developed children.
Method: This study recruited 41 Chinese children who met the diagnostic criteria of autism spectrum disorder according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental disorders-IV (DSM-IV). Their 79 biological parents were evaluated by means of Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) and a set of neuropsychological tests. The normal control group consisted of 80 parents of well-developed children, and they were matched by age and gender.
Results: We found that the EPQ scores in the P scale for parents of children with ASD were significantly higher than the parents of well-developed children (t=1.68, p=0.039), while their scores in E scale and L scale were significantly lower (t=1.84, p=0.035; t=2.07, p=0.023). We also identified that the parents of children with ASD took significantly longer time than the normal control to complete Trail Making Test (TMT) Part A and Part B-M (t=1.57, p=0.013; t=0.83, p=0.019).
Conclusion: Compared to the parents of well-developed children, the parents of children with ASD were more likely to be unconcerned, rigid, stubborn, introverted, and reticent. They displayed less novelty and thrill-seeking behaviors, and had limited social skills and maturity. Although the general cognitive functions including IQ were relatively intact in the parents of children with ASD, there were impairments in their planning, flexibility and visual processing functions.
背景: 儿童孤独症谱系障碍的日益增多和巨大的家庭 负担引起了学术界和社会的关注。.
目的: 研究孤独症儿童（ASD）父母的人格特征和神 经认知功能，并与正常发育的孩子父母进行比较。.
方法: 根据精神疾病诊断与统计手册第四版（DSM-IV）， 这项研究招募了41 名符合孤独症谱系障碍诊断标准的 中国孩子。对于他们79 位亲生父母均采用艾森克个性 问卷（EPQ）和一套神经心理学测试来进行评估。正 常对照组是由80 名发育良好的儿童组成，年龄、性别 相匹配。.
结果: 留学生较中国学生更经常地使用“积极重新关注” 和“我们发现孤独症儿童的父母在P 量表中EPQ 得分 显著高于发育良好的孩子父母(t=1.68, p=0.039)，而他 们E 量表和L 量表的评分均显著较低 (t=1.84, p=0.035; t=2.07, p=0.023)。我们还确认了孤独症儿童的父母比正 常对照花更长的时间来完成连线试验（TMT）A 部分和 B-M 部分 (t=1.57, p=0.013; t=0.83, p=0.019)。.
结论: 相对于发育良好的儿童父母，孤独症儿童的父 母更偏向于漠不关心、死板、固执、内向、沉默。他 们表现出较少的创新性和寻求刺激的行为，并且社会 技能和成熟性有限。虽然孤独症儿童的父母的一般认 知功能，包括智商在内，都比较完整，但是他们的计 划性、灵活性和视觉处理功能是有损伤的。.
Keywords: autism spectrum disorder; executive function; neurocognitive function; personality characteristics.