Background: Evidence suggests that there are important relationships between parent characteristics (e.g., broader autism phenotype, psychological distress), parent-child interaction behaviours (e.g., parent responsiveness, child attentiveness), and child autism behaviours when measured at a single time point. Few studies have examined these associations longitudinally, which would allow greater insight into potential causal relationships between these variables. Therefore, the longitudinal associations between the domains of parent characteristics and parent-child interaction collected early in childhood and child autism behaviours at age 3 were investigated in the current study.Method: The study utilised secondary data collected at two time points, baseline (child aged 9-14 months) and 3-year-old follow-up, to assess the predictive effects of baseline variables on child autism behaviours at 3 years. Families were in a treatment-as-usual group whose child demonstrated early signs of autism (n=51).Results: Three domains of parent-child interaction each significantly predicted more pronounced child autism behaviours at 3 years: (1) lower parent sensitive responsiveness, (2) lower dyad mutuality, and (3) higher child negative affect. However, parent characteristics at baseline were not related to children’s autism behaviours at age 3.Conclusions: The results suggest that parent-child interaction behaviours in infancy seem to play an important role in the development of children who are at an increased likelihood of ASD through showing early signs of autism. These findings highlight the potential value of developing programs designed to enhance the quality of parent-child interactions in early life to ensure optimal developmental outcomes for children in later life. © 2022, The Authors. All rights reserved.
Loncarevic et al. (Sat,) studied this question.