In this study the social behaviour of young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their mothers is compared within two different dyads: a dyad consisting of a mother and her own child and a dyad consisting of a mother and an unfamiliar child. Mothers did not change the frequency of their social initiatives and responsiveness with an unfamiliar child, but they became less directive than with their own child. Children with ASD did not show significantly better social behaviour with their own mother than with an unfamiliar mother. The results suggest that the social behaviour of a child with autism is not significantly enhanced by the familiarity of the social partner, but rather by the partner’s autism-adapted interaction style. Clinical implications of these findings have been discussed.
Adamson, L.B., McArthur, D., Markov, Y., Dunbar, B. & Bakeman, R. ( 2001) ‘Autism and Joint Attention: Young Children’s Responses to Maternal Bids’, Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology22: 439-453.
2.
Aldred, C., Green, J. & McConachie, H. ( 2008, May) Measuring Change in Parent Child Communicative Interaction during Pre-School Treatment for Autism - Child’s Talk. Poster presented at the International Meeting for Autism Research , London.
3.
Barnard, K.E. ( 1997) ‘Influencing Parent-Child Interactions for Children at Risk’, in M.J. Guralnick (ed) The Effectiveness of Early Intervention (pp. 249-268). Baltimore, MD: Brookes.
4.
Bruinsma, Y., Koegel, R.L. & Koegel, L.K. ( 2004) ‘Joint Attention and Children with Autism: A Review of the Literature’, Mental Retardations and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews10: 169-175.
5.
Cohen, J. ( 2003) Applied Multiple Regression/Correlation Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences, 3rd edition. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
6.
Dawber, T. & Kuczynski, L. ( 1999) ‘The Question of Ownness: Influence of Relationship Context on Parental Socialization Strategies’, Journal of Social and Personal Relationships16: 475-493.
7.
Dawson, G., Toth, K., Abbott, R., Osterling, J., Munson, J., Estes, A., et al. (2004) ‘Early Social Attention Impairments in Autism: Social Orienting, Joint Attention, and Attention to Distress’ , Developmental Psychology40: 271-283.
8.
Dissanayake, C. & Crossley, S.A. ( 1996) ‘Proximity and Sociable Behaviours in Autism: Evidence for Attachment’, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines37: 149-156.
9.
Doussard-Roosevelt, J.A., Joe, C.M., Bazhenova, O.V. & Porges, S.W. ( 2003) ‘Mother-Child Interaction in Autistic and Nonautistic Children: Characteristics of Maternal Approach Behaviours and Child Social Responses’, Development and Psychopathology15: 277-295.
10.
Doyle, A.B., Connolly, J. & Rivest, L.P. ( 1980) ‘The Effect of Playmate Familiarity on the Social Interactions of Young Children’. Child Development51: 217-223.
11.
Grossman, J.B., Carter, A. & Volkmar, F.R. ( 1997) ‘Social Behaviour in Autism’, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences807: 440-454.
12.
Hollingshead, A.B. ( 1975) Four factor index of social status. Unpublished working paper. New Haven, CT: Department of Sociology, Yale University.
13.
Hudry, K. & Slaughter, V.(2009) ‘Agent Familiarity and Emotional Context Influence the Everyday Empathic Responding of Young Children with Autism’, Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders3: 74-85.
14.
Jackson, C.T., Fein, D., Wolf, J., Jones, G., Hauck, M., Waterhouse, L. & Feinstein, C. ( 2003) ‘Responses and Sustained Interactions in Children with Mental Retardation and Autism’, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders33: 115-121.
15.
Kahana-Kalman, R. & Goldman, S. ( 2008) ‘Intermodal Matching of Emotional Expressions in Young Children with Autism’, Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders2: 301-310.
16.
Kasari, C. & Sigman, M. ( 1997) ‘Linking Parental Perceptions to Interactions in Young Children with Autism’, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders27: 39-57.
17.
Landry, R. & Bryson, S.E. ( 2004) ‘Impaired Disengagement of Attention in Young Children with Autism’, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry45: 1115-1122.
18.
Lederberg, A.R., Ryan, H.B. & Robbins, B.L. ( 1986) ‘Peer Interaction in Young Deaf Children. The Effect of Partner Hearing Status and Familiarity’, Developmental Psychology22: 691-700.
19.
Lemanek, K.L., Stone, W.L. & Fishel, P.T. ( 1993) ‘Parent-Child Interactions in Handicapped Preschoolers - The Relation between Parent Behaviors and Compliance’, Journal of Clinical Child Psychology22: 68-77.
20.
Lollis, S. & Kuczynski, L. ( 1997) ‘Beyond One Hand Clapping: Seeing Bidirectionality in Parent-Child Relations’, Journal of Social and Personal Relationships14: 441-461.
21.
Lord, C., Rutter, M., Dilavore, P. & Risi, S. ( 1999) Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Manual. Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services.
22.
Marfo, K. ( 1992) ‘Correlates of Maternal Directiveness with Children Who Are Developmentally Delayed’, American Journal of Orthopsychiatry62: 219-233.
23.
Miller, G.A. & Chapman, J.P. ( 2001) ‘Misunderstanding Analysis of Covariance’ , Journal of Abnormal Psychology110: 40-48.
24.
Montague, D.P.F. & Walker-Andrews, A.S. ( 2002) ‘Mothers, Fathers, and Infants: The Role of Person Familiarity and Parental Involvement in Infants’ Perception of Emotion Expressions’, Child Development73: 1339-1352.
25.
Moore, J.B., Saylor, C.F., & Boyce, G.C. ( 1998) ‘Parent-Child Interactions and Developmental Outcomes in Medically Fragile, High-Risk Children’, Children’s Health Care27: 97-112.
26.
Mullen, E. ( 1995) Mullen Scales of Early Learning. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Services.
27.
Noldus (2005) The Observer XT: The Next Generation of Observation Software. Wageningen , the Netherlands: Noldus.
28.
Reichardt, C.S. & Bormann, C.A. ( 1994) ‘Using Regression Models to Estimate Program Effects’ , in J.S. Wholey, H.P. Hatry, & K.E. Newcomer (eds) Handbook of Practical Program Evaluation (pp. 417-455). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
29.
Schaerlaekens, A., Zink, I. & van Ommeslaeghe, K. ( 1993) Reynell taalontwikkelingsschalen. Handleiding [Reynell Language Developmental Scales. Manual]. Nijmegen, Netherlands: Berkhout.
30.
Sigman, M. & Mundy, P. ( 1989) ‘Social Attachments in Autistic Children’ , Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry28: 74-81.
31.
Siller, M. & Sigman, M. ( 2002) ‘The Behaviors of Parents of Children with Autism Predict the Subsequent Development of Their Children’s Communication’ , Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders32: 77-89.
32.
Spiker, D., Boyce, G.C. & Boyce, L.K. ( 2002) ‘Parent-Child Interactions When Young Children Have Disabilities’, International Review of Research in Mental Retardation25: 35-70.
33.
Stone, W.L., Ousley, O.Y., Yoder, P.J., Hogan, K.L. & Hepburn, S.L. ( 1997) ‘Nonverbal Communication in Two- and Three-Year-Old Children with Autism’, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders27: 677-696.
34.
van IJzendoorn, M.H., Rutgers, A.H., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M.J., Swinkels, S.H.N., van Daalen, E., Dietz, C., et al. (2007) ‘Parental Sensitivity and Attachment in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Comparison with Children with Mental Retardation, with Language Delays, and with Typical Development’, Child Development78: 597-608.
35.
Warreyn, P., Roeyers, H. & De Groote, I. ( 2005) ‘Early Social Communicative Behaviors of Preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorder during Interaction with Their Mothers’ , Autism9: 342-361.
36.
Wetherby, A.M., Watt, N., Morgan, L. & Shunway, S. ( 2007) ‘Social Communication Profiles of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders Late in the Second Year of Life’, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders37: 960-975.
37.
Willemsen-Swinkels, S.H.N., Buitelaar, J.K. & van Engeland, H. ( 1997) ‘Children with Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Children with a Language Disorder and Normally Developing Children in Situations with High- and Low-Level Involvement of the Caregiver’, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines38: 327-336.
38.
Wimpory, D.C., Hobson, R.P., Willimas, J.M.G. & Nash, S. ( 2000) ‘Are Infants with Autism Socially Engaged? A Study of Recent Retrospective Parental Reports’, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders30: 525-536.
39.
Zink, I. & Lejaegere, M. ( 2002) N-CDIs. Lijsten voor communicatieve ontwikkeling [Lists for Communicative Development]. Leuven, Belgium: Acco.
