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Parenting Behaviors as Predictive of Early Student–Teacher Relationships in ASD

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Abstract

Student–teacher relationship (STR) quality during the early school years has important implications for student adjustment and outcomes. Studies with typically developing (TD) children have identified links between parent behaviors and STRs, but these connections remain unexplored for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The present study investigated relationships between observed parent behaviors during a shared literacy task and STRs one year later for 117 children (ages 4–7) with ASD. Children whose parents displayed more intrusiveness had poorer-quality STRs. Further, parent intrusiveness mediated the predictive relationship between child spoken language skills and STR quality. These results suggest that parent intrusiveness plays an important role in the development of STRs for young children with ASD. Implications for intervention and research are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

This project was based on a longitudinal study funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (R324A110086; J Blacher, P.I.). Support was also provided by the SEARCH Family Autism Resource Center in the Graduate School of Education, University of California, Riverside. We are indebted to colleagues and students who contributed to this research, and especially to the children, parents, and teachers who participated in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Education, University of California, Riverside, 1207 Sproul Hall, Riverside, CA, 95251, USA

    Ainsley Losh & Jan Blacher

  2. Charter College of Education, California State University, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90032, USA

    Leigh Ann Tipton

  3. College of Liberal Arts, University of Massachusetts, Boston, Boston, MA, 02125, USA

    Abbey Eisenhower

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  1. Ainsley Losh
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  2. Leigh Ann Tipton
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  3. Abbey Eisenhower
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  4. Jan Blacher
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Contributions

AL conceived of the study, completed statistical analyses and interpretations, and drafted the manuscript; LAT participated in the study’s data collection and behavioral coding, and provided manuscript revisions; AE conceived of the longitudinal study design and provided manuscript revisions; JB conceived of the longitudinal study design, provided consultation in selecting and interpreting statistical analyses, and helped to revise the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ainsley Losh.

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Losh, A., Tipton, L.A., Eisenhower, A. et al. Parenting Behaviors as Predictive of Early Student–Teacher Relationships in ASD. J Autism Dev Disord 49, 3582–3591 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04065-2

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