Objective: To expand initial work (completed in 1994), by quantifying child-father reciprocity behaviors in clinic and home settings, comparing and contrasting father and mother interactions with their autistic children prior to in-home training, evaluating the effectiveness of primary training with fathers (as opposed to mothers), and studying the generalizability of this father training to other family members.
Design: Two designs were used: single subject experimentation and group comparison.
Population, Sample, Setting, Years: Sample included children with autism (3-8 years) and their parents. The settings were clinic and home playrooms and incorporated standardized toys.
Variables: The independent variable was an in-home, nurse-conducted parent training intervention. Dependent variables included frequencies (# per 10-minutes) of mother-child and father-child training skills as well as parental initiating and responding behaviors. Frequencies of child nonverbal vocalizations, intelligible words, and stereotypical behaviors were also obtained during the same observation periods with each parent individually.
Methods: Children and parents were initially videotaped in a standard clinic session and later at home. Following baseline sessions, fathers were taught two child-training skills (imitation with animation and expectant waiting). After the training, father learning and child behaviors were assessed 2 times each week over 3 months with in-home videotaping. Father training of mother was also assessed over the entire period using the same methodology. One and three month maintenance probe data were obtained following the completion of the in-home training protocol.
Findings: This presentation will focus on a discussion of findings from our initial study and how they have been incorporated into our current work. The results of our initial study suggested that fathers interacted with their children differently than mothers. Fathers tended to be more directive, responded to child initiations with less consistency, and engaged in more parallel play than mothers did. Interestingly, grouped data from our recently completed study (N=21 children) yielded no significant differences in mother- and father-child dyads. However, recent data from 6 families examined using single subject experimentation methods indicated wide variability and individual differences. Trends and levels of these data will be discussed and displayed using graphed visual analyses.
Conclusions: Findings from our initial study as well as recently completed work provide important information about family functioning, child / parent interactions, and family / investigator interactions for children with autism. Particularly noteworthy is knowledge gained regarding father-child interactions about which little was previously reported.
Implications: Results of this study indicate that nurse-conducted in-home training is effective and well received. However, wide variability exists within the sample, suggesting that treatment efficacy may be assessed more accurately using single subject analyses versus traditional group comparison designs. Funded by National Institute of Nursing Research R29 NR04297
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