Unstructured mother-toddler interactions were examined in 18-month-old high-and low-risk children subsequently diagnosed (n=12) or not diagnosed (n=21) with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) at 36 months. Differences in maternal sensitivity were not found as a function of emergent ASD status. A differential-susceptibility moderation model of child risk guided investigations linking maternal sensitivity to child behavior and language growth. Group status moderated the relation between sensitivity and concurrent child behavior problems, with a positive association present for children with emergent ASD. Maternal sensitivity at 18 months predicted expressive language growth from age two to three years among children with emergent ASD only. Findings underscore the importance of understanding parent-child interaction during this key period in the development of autism symptomatology.

Non-verbal referential communication is impaired in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). However, the development of difficulties with referential communication in the younger siblings of children with ASD (High-Risk Siblings)—and the degree to which early referential communication predicts later autism symptomatology—is not clear. We modeled the early developmental trajectories of three types of referential communication: responding to joint attention (RJA), initiating joint attention (IJA), and initiating behavioral requests (IBR) across 8, 10, 12, 15, and18 months of age in High-Risk Siblings (n = 40) and the infant siblings of children without ASD (Low-Risk Siblings; n = 21). Hierarchical Linear Modeling indicated that High-Risk Siblings exhibited lower levels of baseline RJA and IJA and a lower rate of linear change in IBR than Low-Risk Siblings. When the 10 High-Risk Siblings who received an ASD diagnosis were excluded from analyses, group differences in the development of referential communication remained significant only for RJA. Baseline levels of IJA were associated with later ASD symptomatology among High-Risk Siblings, suggesting that individual differences in referential communication development at 8 months may index early manifestations of ASD.

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