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PROMOTING PARENT SOCIAL COMMUNICATION BEHAVIORS FOR PARENTS OF CHILDREN WITH DEVELOPMENTAL CONCERNS: A PARENT-MEDIATED FAMILY ROUTINES INTERVENTION

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posted on 2024-10-17, 18:03 authored by Claire A RosenbergerClaire A Rosenberger

Providing parents of autistic children, or children at an increased likelihood of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis, with tools to foster their child's social communication can help promote positive development. This study explored the role of promoting parents’ social communication behaviors using a minimally intensive intervention, a Family Routines Intervention (FRI), in two modalities: book-based or clinic-based. FRI is an eight-week-long intervention that focuses on common family routines to promote social communication. Given previous parent-mediated intervention studies, we hypothesize greater changes in parent social communication behaviors within the clinic-based group. Participants in this study were parents of children who had or were at an elevated likelihood of an ASD diagnosis. Parents enrolled in the clinic-based (n = 29) or book-based (n = 15) modality. Video data were collected during two home visits (pre- and post-FRI) to evaluate changes in parent social communication behaviors across four family contexts: play, mealtime, bedtime, and diaper/clothing change. Parent-child interactions were coded for parent social communication behaviors. Results showed that our hypotheses were not supported – the clinic-based group did not have notable changes in social communication behaviors in any context after participating in FRI. Mealtime was the only context where there was an interaction of time and modality on parent social communication F(1,62) = 4.07, p = 0.048. However, it did not support our hypothesis that parents in the clinic-based modality would have greater increases in parent social communication totals in the mealtime context, rather we found parents in the book-based group showed improvements. Despite the lack of significant findings, our study examined family routines that are not commonly explored in the literature, such as bedtime and diaper/clothing routines. We anticipate that our investigation into these overlooked family routines will encourage researchers to examine family routines other than play when assessing parent-mediated interventions.

History

Degree Type

  • Master of Science

Department

  • Human Development and Family Studies

Campus location

  • West Lafayette

Advisor/Supervisor/Committee Chair

A.J. Schwichtenberg

Additional Committee Member 2

Kristine Marceau

Additional Committee Member 3

Carolyn McCormick

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