Background Pragmatics has generally been defined as the ability to use language in social situations, it is commonly regarded as the third major component of language ability. To date, there is no tool for assessing early pragmatic development of Chinese‐speaking children. Aims To describe the translation of the Language Use Inventory (LUI) from English to Mandarin Chinese and to report findings on the Chinese version's reliability, validity and developmental sensitivity. Methods & Procedures The original English version of the LUI was translated into Mandarin Chinese. Parents of 177 typically developing (TD) toddlers and preschool children completed the inventory to examine its internal reliability and construct validity and how scores differed across ages and sexes. A total of 31 parents out of the 177 completed the LUI‐Mandarin, again within 4 weeks, to assess test–retest reliability. To examine discriminative validity, 43 parents of age‐ and sex‐matched TD children and children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) recruited from Nanjing Brain Hospital affiliated with Nanjing Medical University completed the LUI‐Mandarin. Outcomes & Results Cronbach's alpha values for the LUI‐Mandarin's three parts and for 11 of 12 LUI‐Mandarin subscales were 0.707–0.992, with most values in the 0.825–0.992 range. Test–retest reliability ranged from 0.66 to 0.95, indicating good to excellent reliability. Factor analysis of the LUI‐Mandarin revealed two different factors, and the total variance explained was 74.38%. The LUI‐Mandarin total scores and subscale scores increased with age for both boys and girls, providing evidence of the inventory's developmental sensitivity. Girls, however, had higher total scores than boys at earlier ages (18–23 months). The results of the discriminant validity study revealed that performance was significantly lower in the ASD group than in the TD group with respect to LUI total scores and subscale scores (except for subscale A). Conclusions & Implications The LUI‐Mandarin is the first and only questionnaire available in China that evaluates the pragmatic language skills of children aged between 18 and 47 months. The results of the study show that the LUI‐Mandarin is a valid and reliable tool for Chinese toddlers and preschool children. What this paper adds What is already known on this subjectThe LUI is a parent‐report questionnaire that can provide comprehensive information about very young children's communicative competence. It is widely used both for assessment and to guide intervention. Additionally, it has been translated into French, Italian, Polish, Arabic, Portuguese and Norwegian and it shows good reliability and validity. What this paper adds to existing knowledgeIn the present study we describe the translation of the LUI from English to Mandarin Chinese and report findings on the Chinese version's reliability, validity and developmental sensitivity. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?The LUI‐Mandarin is the first and only questionnaire availab...

Background The behavioral characteristics of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are not only affected by their disease, but also by their parenting environment. HR-ASD has the risk of developing internalization and externalization problems. How the early development of these behavioral problems is affected by parent-child interaction is worth exploring. We tested whether parent-child interactions and parenting characteristics were associated with behavioural problems during the infant periods. Methods This study collected data from 91 infants at high risk for ASD and 68 matched typically developing (TD) infants, about their internalizing and externalizing behavioural problems and engagement states (i.e. positive, negative, and parent-child interactions), using free play paradigm. Parent measures were assessed using the Broad Autism Phenotypic Questionnaire (BAPQ) and Parenting Stress Index Short Form (PSI-SF) questionnaire. The core symptoms of ASD were assessed using the the Autism Diagnostic Observational Schedule (ADOS). Results During free play, infants in the HR-ASD group showed more internalizing (P < 0.001) and externalizing (P < 0.05) behaviours and less positive engagement (P < 0.01) than the TD group. In the regression analysis, we found that parenting stress had an impact on the infants’ externalizing behaviours (△R2 = 0.215). Parent negative engagement had an impact on the infants’ internalizing behaviours (△R2 = 0.451). Conclusions The present study revealed that children at high risk for ASD exhibited more severe internalizing and externalizing behavioural problems than TD group. The parent negative engagement is associated with behavioural problems. The findings on the contribution of parents’ factors to behavioural problems suggests that the parenting stress and parent-child interactions are important factors for mitigating behavioural problems.

Background: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are at risk of developing internalizing and externalizing problems. However, information on the early development of behavioural problems and the contributing role of parent-child interactions among infants at high risk for ASD is lacking. We tested whether parent-child interactions and parenting characteristics were associated with behavioural problems during the infant and toddler periods and examined the effects of the intervention on behavioural problems.Methods: This study collected data from 91 infants at high for risk ASD and 68 matched typically developing (TD) infants. At baseline, behavioural observation was performed during free play with all the enrolled families, and in the ASD group, a second behavioural observation was performed after 12 weeks of the Play-based Communication and Behavior Intervention (PCBI). The coding of parent-child interactions was based on the behaviour of parents and children during free play. These data included the child’s engagement with each parent and behavioural problems.Results: During free play, infants in the ASD group showed more internalizing behaviours (p<0.001) and externalizing behaviours (p<0.05) and less positive engagement (p<0.01) than TD infants. After 12 weeks of intervention, we found that infants at high for risk ASD had reduced internalizing behaviours (p<0.001), increased parent positive engagement (p<0.001), and improved parent-child interactions (p<0.001). In the regression analysis, we found that parenting stress had an impact on infants’ externalizing behaviours (△R2 = 0.215). Parent negative engagement had an impact on infants’ internalizing behaviours (△R2 = 0.451).Conclusions: The findings on the contribution of both parent negative engagement and parent-child interactions to behavioural problems suggests that the amelioration of parent negative engagement is an important factor for the mitigation of behavioural problems. The amelioration of parenting stress is associated with externalizing behaviours. Early intervention and parental factors are important for preventing behavioural problems and possible comorbidity problems in the future.