Maternal Interactive Behaviours in Parenting Children with Williams Syndrome and Autism Spectrum Disorder: Relations with Emotional/Behavioural Problems

Abstract

This study compared maternal responsiveness to children with two neurodevelopmental disorders sharing different but, in some cases, overlapping social phenotypes-Williams syndrome (WS) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD)-and explored the relations between maternal responsiveness and child emotional/behavioural problems (EBP). The sample included 16 pre-schoolers with WS and 43 with ASD, and their mothers. Responsiveness was assessed during a mother-child interaction task. Mothers completed the CBCL 1½-5, providing a measure of EBP. No significant differences emerged between groups, and most dyads were characterized by less responsive behaviours. Maternal responsiveness proved related to child developmental age, but not with EBP. These results provide further insight into the rearing environment of children with neurodevelopmental disorders, highlighting the need for early relationship-based interventions.

Comparison of Adaptive Functioning in Children with Williams Beuren Syndrome and Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Cross‐Syndrome Study

“…Although children with WBS appear to be hypersociable when compared to ASD children, both populations share deficits in some socio‐communicative skills, such as, in preschool age, difficulty in shared attention, showing or giving objects and, in school age, difficulty in social relationships comprehension, pragmatic use of language, and emotion's recognition [Vivanti et al, 2018]. Reconsidering phenotypes similarities between WBS and ASD has presumably resulted in a renewed interest in cross‐syndrome studies on phenotypical, behavioral, biological and clinical comparison [Glod, Riby, & Rodgers, 2019; Ashworth, Palikara, & Van Herwegen, 2019; Hamner et al, 2019; Baptista et al, 2019; Lew et al, 2020; Ridley, Riby, & Leekam, 2020].…”

A conceptual model of risk and protective factors associated with internalizing symptoms in autism spectrum disorder: A scoping review, synthesis, and call for more research

“…For example, Maljaars et al (2014) and Boonen et al (2014), reported no statistically significant associations between variability in parenting quality and level of internalizing symptoms ( r = .06, p > .05) in children with ASD. Further, only one study published to date investigated associations between positive parenting in a small sample ( n = 43) of younger children (i.e., approximately 4.5 years old) with ASD and internalizing symptoms, yielding no statistically significant associations (Baptista et al, 2019). Thus, it is unclear whether positive parenting serves as protective factor for internalizing symptoms in ASD populations or not.…”

Behavioral Problems and Mother-Child Interaction in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…According to the concepts of a child development in the system of their relations with the caregivers (Belsky, 2005), the behavioral features of children, including behavioral disorders, are associated with the specifics of mother-child interaction. Previous studies have shown that emotional and cognitive development, as well as the specific behavior of children with ASD, are related to the characteristics of mother interaction and the quality of child attachment (Baptista et al, 2018;Kahane & El-Tahir, 2015;Levy, Oppenheim, et al, 2019;Teague et al, 2017;Yorke et al, 2018). To assess behavioral disorders in children with ASD, and also as a screening, the CBCL/1½-5 method is used.…”