Date of Award
Fall 2024
Embargo Period
10-30-2024
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
College/School/Department
Department of Psychology
Program
Clinical Psychology
First Advisor
Kristin Christodulu
Committee Members
Melissa Rinaldi
Abstract
The prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has been steadily increasing for the past several decades, with recent estimates indicating that 1 in 36 children in the United States have an ASD diagnosis (Maenner et al., 2023). As this condition is considered a neurodevelopmental disorder, with a strong evidence base supporting early identification, intervention and parenting practices to promote social communication development, a large portion of the research has focused on identifying characteristics of parent-child interactions amongst this population and determining how best to intervene on the family level to promote the development of these skills (Ku et al., 2019). There have been a variety of tools developed to achieve this goal, but there is a strong need for an observational behavioral coding system that has been standardized across neurotypical and autistic populations, as this would best facilitate comparisons of parent-child interactions across these populations. The current study sought to investigate a tool with that potential. Specifically, this exploratory study sought to identify the parent and child characteristics that are related to behaviors coded for using the Dyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding System, Fourth Edition (Eyberg et al., 2013). Additionally, this study sought to identify whether there were differences between in-person and virtual observations of the parent-child interactions. Results indicated that no differences were observed between the virtual and in-person observations of the parent-child interactions in the study. There were several parent and child characteristics that were correlated with specific parent and child interactive behaviors. Strengths and limitations of the study, as well as its implications for future research, are discussed.
License
This work is licensed under the University at Albany Standard Author Agreement.
Recommended Citation
Magin, Daniel, "Characterizing Parent-Child Interactions in Dyads with Autistic Children Using the Dyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding System" (2024). Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present). 56.
https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/etd/56