An intervention to increase responsive parental behaviors and child behaviours for children with autism: Statistical interpretive discourse analysis

Wai Yin Evita KAM

Research output: ThesisDoctoral Theses

Abstract

Compared to typically developing children, children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) show more behavioural problems and communication interaction deficits, so improving parent-child interactions might reduce these problems. This study investigates the effectiveness of the Parent-Child Interaction Intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorder (PCII-A) program on dyad interactions between a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder and his or her parent, via content analysis and statistical discourse analyses of their videos. We invited 21 parents and their children diagnosed with ASD or at risk of it (ages 3 to 6 years) to participate in the pre-and-post comparison study of the Parent-Child Interaction Intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorder program. It consisted of 10 weekly sessions (i.e., 8 two-hour sessions of parent training workshop, and 2 one hour sessions of direct training practice with their child)

Many parent interventions were not designed for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Building on insights from Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (Schuhmann et al., 1998), Happy Parenting Program (Leung et al., 2016), and Positive Discipline (Nelsen, 2006), the present Parent-Child Interaction Intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorder targets children with Autism Spectrum Disorder aged from 3 to 6. It sought to: 1) Improve parent-child interaction by training parents to improve their relationships with their child during play time; 2) Manage children’s behaviour by training parents to promote positive behaviour and address inappropriate behaviour by giving praise and appropriate reinforcement; 3) Improve children’s social and communication skills by training parents to use appropriate prompts and questioning skills; 4) Reduce the stress of parents by training them to use relaxation techniques (for example, breathing).

There was pre-and-post videotaped observation between the Parent-Child Interaction Intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorder program. After the parent intervention, a total of 11758 turns of talk/ behaviour was measured in the sample size of 21 pairs of parents-child. The following occurred more often than before: parent positive touch (+13%), child positive touch (+11%), parent laughter (+15%), child laughter (+24%), parent play (+6%), and child play, (+3%). Also, after the Parent-Child Interaction Intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorder, the following occurred less often than before: child failure to respond (-6%), child negative behaviours (-7%), and child negative talk (-40%). After a child issued a demand or a question, the parent was more likely to agree (respectively, +31% or +13%). After a parent asked a question, the child was less likely to agree (-14%). Parents asked more questions (15%) than children did (4%). Furthermore, parents' stress fell from the pre-test to the post-test (-14%).

The Parent-Child Interaction Intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorder program for parents improved these parents' and their children's positive behaviors and interactions (for example, laughter, play, positive touch) while reducing their negative behaviors (fail to respond, negative behaviour, negative talk), suggesting its potential effectiveness for other such parents and children. Furthermore, parents enhanced their interactions with their children via: (i) rhetorical questions, (ii) talking to themselves when the child does not respond, (iii) follow up questions and (iv) repeating their children’s words. These results suggest that these strategies might be effective for other parents and other intervention programs. All rights reserved.
Original languageEnglish
QualificationDoctor of Education
Awarding Institution
  • The Education University of Hong Kong
Supervisors/Advisors
  • CHIU, Ming Ming, Supervisor
  • SIN, Kuen Fung, Kenneth 冼權鋒, Supervisor
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Keywords

  • Autism spectrum disorder
  • Parent-child interaction
  • Parent intervention
  • Statistical interpretive discourse analysis
  • Theses and Dissertations
  • Thesis (Ed.D.)--The Education University of Hong Kong, 2022.

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