Parent-Child Interaction in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Their Siblings: Comparison of Two Coding Procedures

Background: Parent-child interaction strongly influences the emotional, behavioral, and cognitive development of young children. In a supportive, positive parent-child interaction children can learn and practice a range of abilities (e.g. coping, social skills, etc.). However, given the social-communicative deficits associated with ASD, it is often difficult for parents to interact with their child with ASD. Consequently, parent-child interaction has become an essential part of early interventions for young children with ASD. Given the importance of these parent-child interactions, it is crucial that they can be accurately assessed. Nevertheless, there is no consensus as to how these interactions should be coded.  

Objectives: The aim of the current study was to investigate whether the mother-child interaction in children with ASD differs from the mother-child interaction in their younger siblings. To this end, we compared two coding procedures: a global coding using the rating scales of Erickson and a detailed, more time-consuming procedure (see Meirsschaut et al., 2011). 

Methods: 16 mothers were observed during a task interaction separately with their child with ASD (M=68 months, range=46-84) and with a younger unaffected sibling (M=48 months, range=29-67). All interactions were videotaped and the 32 videos were coded twice. For the global coding mothers were rated on five seven-point scales: supportive presence, respect for the child’s autonomy, structure and limit setting, hostility, and quality of instruction. Children were rated on four seven-point scales: non-negativity, non-avoidance, compliance, and affection. Child characteristics (e.g. developmental age, word comprehension, gender, etc. ) were also taken into account. The detailed coding scheme consisted of 2 broad categories: social initiatives (declarative, imperative, or neutral) and social responses (confirming, non-confirming, neutral, and attempt to comply). Both interval coding and frequency coding were applied during three runs of the videos.  

Results: Using the global coding procedure, we found that mothers scored significantly higher on supportive presence, structure and limit setting and quality of instruction with their children without ASD. The different scales in our global coding scheme did not capture any differences in the children’s social behavior. From the detailed coding procedure we could conclude that mothers were more responsive with the non-ASD sibling. Additionally, children with ASD were proportionally more imperative and less declarative.  

Conclusions: Our main finding is that, contrary to what we expected, mothers were more structuring and supporting with their children without ASD. Methodologically, the global coding scheme detected more differences in the mother’s social behavior and seemed better suited for coding interactions and relational or emotional aspects. The detailed coding scheme was better for detecting differences in the children’s social behavior. Additionally, this coding procedure was better suited for coding specific abilities and technical aspects of the interaction. In summary, both coding procedures seem to complement each other well.