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Social Interactions Between 24-Month-Old Children and Their Older Sibling with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Characteristics and Association with Social-Communicative Development

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Abstract

This study compared sibling interactions between 24-month-old children and their older sibling with ASD (high-risk; n = 24) with 24-month-old children and their typically developing older sibling (low-risk; n = 32). First, high-risk sibling pairs showed lower levels of positive behaviour and younger siblings of children with ASD imitated their older sibling less. Second, in the high-risk group positive interactions were positively associated with the youngest child’s language abilities. However, this association was no longer significant after controlling for language abilities at 14 months. Third, more total interactions in the high-risk group, both negative and positive, were associated with more ASD characteristics. Thus, early sibling interactions might reveal interesting information in light of the (atypical) developmental trajectories of younger siblings of children with ASD.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the by the Ghent University Research Fund [01D21513]. We thank all the families and children who participated in this study as well as the students for their efforts with data collection and video coding.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Experimental-Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Henri Dunantlaan 2, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Chloè Bontinck, Petra Warreyn, Ellen Demurie, Eva Bruyneel, Sofie Boterberg & Herbert Roeyers

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  1. Chloè Bontinck
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  2. Petra Warreyn
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  3. Ellen Demurie
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Contributions

CB set up the study design, was responsible for data collection/measurements and statistical analyses, and drafted the manuscript; PW participated in the study design, assisted in statistical analyses and interpretation of the data, and helped to draft the manuscript; ED participated in the study design, performed measurements and helped to draft the manuscript; EB performed measurements and helped to draft the manuscript. SB performed measurements and helped draft the manuscript. HR participated in the study design and coordinated the study, assisted in statistical analyses and interpretation of the data, and helped to draft the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Chloè Bontinck.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Appendix

Appendix

See Tables 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13.

Table 8 Description of the global rating scales
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Table 9 Description of the frequency coding scheme
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Table 10 Prediction of child development—low-risk group
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Table 11 Prediction of child development controlling for development at 14 months—low-risk group
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Table 12 Prediction of child development—high-risk group
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Table 13 Prediction of child development controlling for development at 14 months - High-risk group
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Bontinck, C., Warreyn, P., Demurie, E. et al. Social Interactions Between 24-Month-Old Children and Their Older Sibling with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Characteristics and Association with Social-Communicative Development. J Autism Dev Disord 48, 4118–4137 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-018-3660-4

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