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Differences in Caregiver Behaviors of Infants at Risk for Developing Autism and Typically Developing Infants during an Object Sharing Paradigm
Towards the end of first year, infants begin to share object play with their caregivers through pointing, showing, and giving (Bakeman & Adamson, 1984). Advancements in infants’ perceptuo-motor skills and onset of walking lead to a surge in object sharing skills. Advances in infants’ motor and social development may influence the way caregivers interact with their infants, which in turn may further influence infant behaviors. Our previous work shows that infants at risk for developing Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) (i.e. infant siblings of children with ASD or AR infants) demonstrated poor object sharing skills compared to typically developing (TD) infants over the first 15 months of life.
Objectives:
In the current study, we explored differences in caregiver behaviors between TD and AR infants during an “object sharing” paradigm. We were specifically interested in the differences in caregiver proximity/social distance, verbalizations, and gestural use as they communicated with their infant.
Methods:
16 AR infants and 16 TD infants were observed during an object sharing task at 9, 12, and 15 months with developmental follow-up and autism screening at 18 and 24 months. Infants were provided a set of standard toys to play with in the presence of their caregivers and played spontaneously or with caregiver reinforcement. We coded for the caregivers’ social distance, gestures, and verbalizations. Specifically, we coded all instances of caregiver initiated proximity-seeking behaviors. In terms of caregiver gestures, we coded for rates of object-directed, attention directing, reinforcing, requesting, and grabbing behaviors. Lastly, in terms of caregiver verbalizations, we coded for rates of directives, prohibitions, reinforcements, and attention-seeking phrases used.
Results:
Caregivers of AR infants engaged in greater rates of proximity-initiating behaviors (0.84 ± 0.76) compared to caregivers of TD infants (0.22 ± 0.21, p = 0.008) at 15 months. In terms of gestural use, caregivers of AR infants demonstrated greater rates of grabbing objects compared to TD caregivers (p = 0.03) at 15 months. In terms of verbalizations, caregivers of AR infants (12 months: 0.66 ± 0.24, 15 months: 0.72 ± 0.24) used greater directives, attention-seeking phrases, and prohibitions at 12 and 15 months compared to caregivers of TD infants (12 months: 0.50 ± 0.14, 15 months: 0.46 ± 0.13, pvalues < 0.03).
Conclusions:
There were significant differences in the way caregivers of AR infants interacted with their infants compared to caregivers of TD infants. These differences in caregiver behaviors stem from the different social cues offered by AR infants and may differentially contribute to the future motor and social development of AR infants. Future studies should test this hypothesis by examining the effects of reduced versus excessive caregiver scaffolding on future outcomes of infants at risk for developing ASD.