Ann M. Mastergeorge

Developmental Pathways to Integrated Social Skills: The Roles of Parenting and Early Intervention.

Dynamic skill theory was utilized to explain the multiple mechanisms and mediating processes influencing development of self-regulatory and language skills in children at 14, 24, and 36 months of age. Relations were found between family risks, parenting-related stresses, and parent-child interactions that contribute either independently or through mediation to the childs acquisition of self-regulatory skills even when accounting for the influence of language development. Variation in impacts between control and Early Head Start (EHS) intervention samples was compared to explore the sequence of developmental mechanisms over time. Findings indicate that EHS protects parenting, child language, and self-regulatory development from the effects of demographic risks and parenting stress, and thus supports parents to raise healthy children.

Grammatical Language Impairment in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Exploring Language Phenotypes Beyond Standardized Testing

Linguistic and cognitive abilities manifest huge heterogeneity in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Some children present with commensurate language and cognitive abilities, while others show more variable patterns of development. Using spontaneous language samples, we investigate the presence and extent of grammatical language impairment in a heterogeneous sample of children with ASD. Findings from our sample suggest that children with ASD can be categorized into three meaningful subgroups: those with normal language, those with marked difficulty in grammatical production but relatively intact vocabulary, and those with more globally low language abilities. These findings support the use of sensitive assessment measures to evaluate language in autism, as well as the utility of within-disorder comparisons, in order to comprehensively define the various cognitive and linguistic phenotypes in this heterogeneous disorder.

A review of 25 years of research in bidirectionality in parent–child relationships An examination of methodological approaches

The concept of bidirectionality represents a process of mutual influence between parent and child, whereby each influences the other as well as the dyadic relationship. Despite the widespread acceptance of bidirectional models of influence, there is still a lack of integration of such models in current research designs. Research on bidirectionality could be strengthened through the adoption of advanced methodologies, including behavioral-genetic research designs and advanced structural equation modeling. The aim of this empirical review is to further advance the study of bidirectionality by evaluating the evidence from 25 years of bidirectionality research in infancy and early childhood. The review indicates significant advancements in the use of methods that address the ecological validity of bidirectional effects, as well as areas that continue to rely on correlational designs to detect bidirectional effects. We describe analytic approaches that may improve the specificity of bidirectionality evidence and highlight gene–environment interaction designs as a promising area for future bidirectionality research.

An Empirical Review of Peer-Mediated Interventions Implications for Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Peer-mediated instruction and intervention (PMII) is a systematic, evidence-based method for addressing the social-communication needs of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Despite existing research on this practice, gaps remain in the implementation of PMII. The purpose of this empirical review was to examine recent applications of this evidence-based practice and systematically assess the quality of the analytic approaches implemented. Recent studies selected for this review included participants with ASD and targeted social-communication skills. The Scientific Merit Rating Scale (SMRS) was used to review the quality of the research studies, and the results suggest that PMII continues to be an effective practice. These results indicate that future research should focus on larger study Ns, particularly for those who are preschool-age, and include measures of generalization and maintenance as well as treatment integrity measures of peers’ actions. The effectiveness of PMII relative to positive developmental outcomes is discussed.

A LONGITUDINAL, PERSON-CENTERED ANALYSIS OF EARLY HEAD START MOTHERS’ PARENTING: Early Head Start Mothers’ Parenting

This study used a person-centered approach to examine stability and change in parenting typologies across early childhood. Profiles were associated within and across time with contextual covariates, including demographic characteristics, risk factors, and Early Head Start participation. Participants were drawn from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project (N = 2, 876). Parenting profiles were identified based on observed parenting dimensions at 14, 24, and 36 months, and pre-Kindergarten (pre-K). Results suggested a four-profile solution at each time point: Supportive, Lukewarm (14 & 24 months)/Sufficient (36 months and pre-K), Harsh, and Detached. Supportive was the largest, most stable, and most likely transitioned into profile while Harsh and Detached represented rare profiles with moderate to low membership stability across time. Depression and family conflict emerged as important correlates of unsupportive parenting profiles both within and across time. Findings are discussed in terms of their relevance for both policy and implementation practices for low-income mothers with young children.

FAMILY CONFLICT MODERATES EARLY PARENT–CHILD BEHAVIORAL TRANSACTIONS

The reciprocal transactions that shape early parent-child relationships are influenced by contextual stress, such as family conflict. Although family conflict is a salient stressor to the family system, few studies have considered how parent-child transactions vary according to exposure to family conflict. The present study examined how family conflict alters early parent-child behavioral transactions. We utilized three waves of data from a multisite longitudinal study of low-income families (N = 2, 876), child age 14 months, 24 months, and 36 months, to identify behavioral transactions of positive and negative maternal (supportiveness, negative regard) and child (engagement, negativity) behaviors. Results indicated that family conflict at 14 months diminished the positive association between maternal supportiveness and child engagement, and amplified the inverse association between maternal negativity and child engagement. Family conflict at 14 months also was associated with increased stability of child negativity and subsequent increased maternal negative regard at 36 months, in part via increases in 24-month child negativity. In sum, family conflict occurring early in childhood predicted and moderated behavioral transactions between young children and their mothers.

Vocalization patterns in young children with Down syndrome: Utilizing the language environment analysis (LENA) to inform behavioral phenotypes:

Children with Down syndrome (DS) are at higher risk for both delayed expressive language and poor speech intelligibility. The current study utilized the quantitative automated language environment analysis (LENA) to depict mother and child vocalizations and conversational patterns in the home of 43 children with DS, chronologically aged 24–64 months. Children with DS displayed fewer utterances than typically developing children; however, there was wide variability. Furthermore, children with DS did not show increased vocalization counts across their chronological ages. In contrast to previous findings, this study found that the mothers of children with DS had a reduced number of vocalizations. However, the vocalizations increased with age in comparison to mothers of typically developing children. Implications for targeted interventions that facilitate learning opportunities in bidirectional contexts for children with DS and their parents are discussed, with particular attention to quantify behavioral phenotypes utilizing a novel expressive language assessment tool.