The Role of parent-child interaction as a risk factor for atypical development of children with autism spectrum disorders

Abstract

The findings of investigations published between 2000 and 2016 on the study of parental interaction with children with a risk of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) were analyzed. The article demonstrates that early parent-child interaction in such families has distinctive features and can be one of the significant factors of both the risk of ASD development in children at an early age and the compensation of their manifestations. At the same time, such characteristics of the parent-child interaction as maternal sensitivity (the ability to perceive and accurately interpret the child's attachment signals and be able to respond promptly and adequately to these signals) and synchronism (the coordination of movements, actions and other time-dependent indicators; joint attention) are not early markers of ASD development in a child. The authors noted that the issues of parent-child interaction are rarely studied, and the survey samples are limited.