UC Riverside

The purpose of this study was to identify how autism-related child characteristics influenced mother-child interaction during a shared book reading activity. Coding systems designed to report parent and child behaviors during the task were utilized for this research. The children involved were required to meet criteria for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), be between the ages of 4 and 7 years, be at least minimally verbal, and have an IQ greater than 55. The results of a factor analysis identified a four-factor model of a parent-directed shared literacy task--clarification techniques, feedback techniques, teaching techniques, and evocative techniques. Both parent education and child social interaction skills were found to be significant predictors of the parent's use of clarification techniques during the shared literacy task. Parent education and child IQ were both correlated with positive parenting; child IQ was negatively correlated with negative parenting. Results from chi-square analyses utilizing the dichotomized CBCL externalizing behavior problems score, demonstrated that the presence of externalizing behavior problems was significantly related to children with less positive parents. A subset of the sample of children who had elevated problem behaviors and parents exhibiting less positive parenting was identified for future research in understanding whether the child or parent is influencing the relationship between child behavior problems and parenting behaviors.