Caregiver Responsiveness and Social Interaction Behaviors of Young Children With Autism

Although it is documented that parent interaction influences children's development, few studies have focused on methods for reliably assessing molar-level caregiver-child interactions that are used regularly in treatment evaluations in community-based settings, and none have targeted children with autism spectrum disorders. Thirty-five children and their caregivers participated in an outpatient evaluation for therapeutic treatment planning for children with autism spectrum disorders. Parent-child interactions (part of the routine evaluation) were coded immediately after a 10-minute free-play activity. Analyses indicated that molar-level caregiver interaction behaviors could be evaluated with good reliability. Correlational analysis of parent and child demographics with the quality of interactions revealed no significant relationships, consistent with previous research. However, an expected and significant concurrent association was observed between parent responsiveness, measured using the observational rating scale, and parents' reports of children's ability to initiate interactions with adults. Research on reliable, ecologically feasible methods of parent-child interaction assessment conducted in community-based settings may help translate evidence-based practices into real-world settings.