Psychological Well-Being and Parent-Child Relationship Quality in Relation to Child Autism: An Actor-Partner Modeling Approach

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often report poor psychological well-being, including a high level of parenting stress and depressive symptoms. Little is known about the extent to which poor parent psychological well-being alters the emotional quality of the parent-child relationship in a context of child ASD. This study examined the association between actor (one's own) and partner (one's partner's) level of parenting stress and depressive symptoms and the emotional quality of the parent-child relationship using a Five Minute Speech Sample (FMSS) in 150 families of children with ASD, aged 5–12 years (85.7% male). Mothers and fathers were aged 38.69 (SD = 5.62) and 40.76 (SD = 6.19), respectively; 76% of mothers and 68% of fathers had a college degree. Structural equation modeling, using Analysis of Moment Structures software, was used to test Actor-Partner Interdependence Models. Results indicated that mother's level of parenting stress and depressive symptoms were associated with her own FMSS Warmth and Criticism toward the child with ASD 12 months later in negative and positive directions. Mother's level of parenting stress was also negatively associated with father's FMSS Warmth toward the child with ASD 12 months later. Finally, father's level of parenting stress was positively associated with his FMSS Criticism toward the child with ASD. Overall, findings indicate that the mother-child and father-child relationship are both impacted by parent psychological well-being in families of children with ASD; however, actor effects are stronger for mothers and partner effects were only found for fathers. Implications for interventions are discussed.     

Assessment to identify learner-specific prompt and prompt-fading procedures for children with autism spectrum disorder

Few studies have evaluated the use of assessment to identify the most efficient instructional practices for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. This is problematic as these individuals often have difficulty acquiring skills, and the procedures that may be efficient with one individual may not be for others. The experimenters conducted instructional assessments to identify the most efficient prompt type (model, partial physical, full physical) and prompt-fading procedure (progressive delay, most-to-least, least-to-most) for teaching auditory–visual conditional discriminations for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Each assessment was conducted at least twice, and a final generality test combined the most and the least efficient prompt type and prompt-fading procedure for teaching novel auditory–visual conditional discriminations. The results demonstrated learner-specific outcomes for the prompt type assessment, whereas the least-to-most prompt fading procedure was most efficient for all participants.     

Infant positioning: A brief review

The American Academy of Pediatrics (2016a) has made several recommendations regarding the safe positioning of infants by caregivers, including placing infants in a supine position for sleep and in prone for supervised periods of tummy time. However, caregivers may have difficulty adhering with these recommendations. A small, but growing, number of behavior analytic studies have examined these infant safety recommendations and strategies for increasing adherence. This review describes behavior analytic research on infant positioning and provides suggestions for future research.     

Internalizing problems and their impact on the relation between callous-unemotional traits,narcissism, and aggression

Narcissism and callous-unemotional (CU) traits have demonstrated relations with youth aggression across studies. However, different forms of narcissism and internalizing problems may exacerbate the relation between CU traits and aggression. To that end, the current study examined the degree to which interactions among internalizing problems, CU traits, and dimensions of narcissism related to aggression in a sample of 219 adolescents (83.1% males), ages 16–19, enrolled in a military-style residential program. Consistent with previous research, psychopathy-linked narcissism significantly moderated the relation between CU traits and aggression. Addtionally, self-reported aggression was highest among adolescents who endorsed high levels of CU traits, psychopathy-linked narcissism, and internalizing problems. The same pattern of results was not evident for other forms of narcissism. These results suggest that internalizing problems further increase the probability of aggression among adolescents with psychopathic tendencies (i.e., CU traits, psychopathy-linked narcissism). Further implications are discussed.     

Student volunteer social support and infant intervention: A case study

The emphases in infant mental health have been in the three areas of supporting the mother-infant dyad through education, psychotherapy to help parents resolve emotional conflicts that interfere with the parent-infant interaction, and support during the acute crisis that follows an abnormal birth. The case described herein involves a child with a genetic defect born to competent parents, a chronic stressful situation that does not fit these categories. It became apparent in the first few months after the birth that both the child and parents were in need of some help in coping with the situation. An intervention was designed to help provide both the necessary stimulation for the baby and the needed emotional support for the family, while it acknowledged their skill and competencies as parents. This was done through the help of college student volunteers, who assisted the mother in the home. Developmental data recorded at birth, 7 months, 12 months, and 39 months indicate that the child is severely multiply handicapped. Interview data with the parents at those times document their personal and family difficulties, the eventual resolution as a family in dealing with this problem, and the importance of the volunteer help during that process.