Effects of remote support courses on parental mental health and child development in autism: A randomized controlled trial

Table 1 Comparisons of the demographic characteristics between the two groups at baseline, n (%)/mean ± SD

Variable	Experimental group (n = 71)	Control group (n = 69)	χ2/t/Z	P value
Children’s gender
Boy	57 (80.28)	58 (84.06)	10.340	0.560
Girl	14 (19.72)	11 (15.94)
Children’s age in months	33.66 ± 8.60	32.83 ± 8.35	2-0.583	0.561
Parents
Father	15 (21.13)	17 (24.64)	10.245	0.621
Mother	56 (78.87)	52 (75.36)
Parents’ age in years	32.41 ± 4.41	32.86 ± 4.26	20.609	0.544
Educational level
Senior high school or below	18 (25.35)	23 (33.33)	3-0.795	0.427
College or undergraduate	50 (70.42)	42 (60.87)
Postgraduate or above	3 (4.23)	4 (5.80)
Occupation
Employed	61 (85.92)	54 (78.26)	11.398	0.237
Unemployed	10 (14.08)	15 (21.74)
Average annual household income in RMB
≤ 50000	13 (18.31)	20 (28.99)	3-1.388	0.165
50000-100000	21 (29.58)	20 (28.99)
100000-200000	26 (36.62)	19 (27.54)
> 200000	11 (15.49)	10 (14.49)
Residence
Urban	37 (52.11)	39 (56.52)	10.274	0.601
Rural	34 (47.89)	30 (43.48)
Family structure
Nuclear family	25 (35.21)	24 (34.78)	11.697	0.428
Immediate family 1	38 (53.52)	32 (46.38)
Immediate family 2	8 (11.27)	13 (18.84)
Number of children	1.35 ± 0.56	1.54 ± 0.68	21.752	0.082
CARS	35.92 ± 5.08	36.42 ± 5.22	20.580	0.563
GDS
Adaptability	64.11 ± 18.22	64.62 ± 20.23	20.157	0.875
Gross motor skills	71.92 ± 14.95	74.99 ± 16.72	21.146	0.254
Fine motor skills	67.17 ± 18.95	70.12 ± 17.79	20.948	0.345
Language	44.32 ± 19.19	40.84 ± 16.66	2-1.145	0.254
Personal-social behavior	52.92 ± 13.76	51.68 ± 15.30	2-0.502	0.616

¹χ² test.

²t test.

³Mann-Whitney U test.

Nuclear family: Parents and minor children live together; Immediate family 1: Nuclear family and grandparents who can offer some help; Immediate family 2: Nuclear family and grandparents who cannot offer any help; CARS: Childhood autism rating scale; GDS: Gesell developmental schedules.