Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Family Coordination in Families who have a Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Child and Family Studies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Little is known about the interactions of families where there is a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The present study applies the Lausanne Trilogue Play (LTP) to explore both its applicability to this population as well as to assess resources and areas of deficit in these families. The sample consisted of 68 families with a child with ASD, and 43 families with a typically developing (TD) child. With respect to the global score for family coordination there were several negative correlations: the more severe the symptoms (based on the child’s ADOS score), the more family coordination was dysfunctional. This correlation was particularly high when parents had to play together with the child. In the parts in which only one of the parents played actively with the child, while the other was simply present, some families did achieve scores in the functional range, despite the child’s symptom severity. The outcomes are discussed in terms of their clinical implications both for assessment and for intervention.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adamson, L., & Bakeman, R. (1985). Affect and attention: Infants observed with mothers and peers. Child Development, 56, 582–593.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ainsworth, M., Blehar, M., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of Attachment. New York: Hillsdale, Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baron-Cohen, S. (1991). Theory of mind in normal development and autism. Prisme, 34, 174–183.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cadman, T., Eklund, H., Howley, D., Hayward, H., Clarke, H., & Findon, J. et al. (2012). Caregiver burden as people with autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder transition into adolescence and adulthood in the United Kingdom. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 51(9), 879–888.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Carneiro, C., Corboz-Warnery, A., & Fivaz-Depeursinge, E. (2006). The Prenatal Trilogue Play: a new observational assessment tool of the prenatal co-parenting alliance. Infant Mental Health Journal, 27(2), 207–228.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Carter, A. S., Martínez-Pedraza, F. D. L., & Gray, S. A. (2009). Stability and individual change in depressive symptoms among mothers raising young children with ASD: Maternal and child correlates. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 65(12), 1270–1280.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. 2nd ed. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Earlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Curran, P. J., West, S. G., & Finch, J. F. (1996). The robustness of test statistics to nonnormality and specification error in confirmatory factor analysis. Psychological Methods, 1(1), 16–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, N. O., & Carter, A. (2008). Parenting stress in mothers and fathers of toddlers with autism spectrum disorders: associations with child characteristics. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38, 1278–1291.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Duvekot, J., Leontine, W., Slappendel, G., van der Ende, J., Verhulst, F. C., van der Sijde, A., & Greaves-Lord, K. (2017). Design and cohort characteristics of the social spectrum study: a multicenter study of the autism spectrum among clinically referred children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 47(1), 33–48.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dykens, E. M. (2015). Family adjustment and interventions in neurodevelopmental disorders. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 28(2), 121.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Ekas, N. V., Lickenbrock, D. M., & Whitman, T. L. (2010). Optimism, social support, and well-being in mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 40(10), 1274–1284.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Favez, N., Frascarolo, F., Carneiro, C., Montfort, V., Corboz Warnery, A., & Fivaz Depeursinge, E. (2006). The development of the family alliance from pregnancy to toddlerhood and children outcomes at 18 months. Infant and Child Development, 15(1), 59–73.

    Google Scholar 

  • Favez, N., Lopes, F., Bernard, M., Frascarolo, F., Lavanchy Scaiola, C., Corboz Warnery, A., & Fivaz Depeursinge, E. (2012). The development of family alliance from pregnancy to toddlerhood and child outcomes at 5 years. Family Process, 51, 542–556.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fishman, I. I., Keown, C. L., Lincoln, A. J., Pineda, J. A., & Müller, R. A. (2014). Atypical cross talk between mentalizing and mirror neuron networks in autism spectrum disorder. JAMA Psychiatry, 71, 751–760.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Fivaz Depeursinge, E., & Corboz Warnery, A. (1999). The primary triangle. a developmental systems view of mothers, fathers and infants. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fivaz Depeursinge, E., & Favez, N. (2006). Exploring triangulation in infancy: two contrasted cases. Family Process, 45(1), 3–18.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fivaz Depeursinge, E., Favez, N., Frascarolo, F., (2004). Threeso me intersubjectivity in infancy: A contribution to the development of self-awareness. In: D. Zahavi, T. Grünbaum, J. Parnas, (Eds.), The structure and development of self-consciousness: interdisciplinary perspectives. Vol. 59 (pp. 221–234) Amsterdam, Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing. .

  • Fivaz Depeursinge, E., & Philipp, D. (2014). The baby and the couple. Understanding and treating young families. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fonagy, P., Steele, M., Steele, H., Moran, G. S., & Higgitt, A. C. (1991). The capacity for understanding mental states: The reflective self in parent and child and its significance for security of attachment. Infant Mental Health Journal, 12(3), 201–218.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fonagy, P., & Target, M. (1997). Attachment and reflective function: Their role in self-organization. Development and Psychopathology, 9(04), 679–700.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Frith, U. (1996). Social communication and its disorder in autism and Asperger syndrome. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 10(1), 48–53.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gau, S. S. F., Chou, M. C., Chiang, H. L., Lee, J. C., Wong, C. C., Chou, W. J., & Wu, Y. Y. (2012). Parental adjustment, marital relationship, and family function in families of children with autism. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 6(1), 263–270.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giallo, R., Wood, C. E., Jellett, R., & Porter, R. (2013). Fatigue, well being and parental self-efficacy in mothers of children with an autism spectrum disorder. Autism, 17(4), 465–480.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Griffith, G. M., Hastings, R. P., Petalas, M. A., & Lloyd, T. J. (2015). Mothers’ expressed emotion towards children with autism spectrum disorder and their siblings. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 59(6), 580–587.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hastings, R. P., & Brown, T. (2002). Behaviour problems of children with autism, parental self-efficacy, and mental health. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 107(3), 222–232.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hoefman, R., Payakachat, N., van Exel, J., Kuhlthau, K., Kovacs, E., Pyne, J., & Tilford, J. M. (2014). Caring for a child with autism spectrum disorder and parents’ quality of life: application of the CarerQol. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 44(8), 1933–1945.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman, C. D., Sweeney, D. P., Hodge, D., Lopez-Wagner, M. C., & Looney, L. (2009). Parenting stress and closeness: Mothers of typically developing children and mothers of children with autism. Focus on Autism and Other developmental disabilities, 24(3), 178–187.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hollingshead, A. A. (1975). Four-factor index of social status. New Haven, CT: Yale University. Unpublished manuscript.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kasari, C., Sigman, M., Mundy, P., & Yirmiya, N. (1990). Affective sharing in the context of joint attention interactions of normal, autistic, and mentally retarded children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 20(1), 87–100.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Karst, J. S., & Van Hecke, A. V. (2012). Parent and family impact of autism spectrum disorders: a review and proposed model for intervention evaluation. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 15(3), 247–277.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, A. B., Garnett, M. S., Attwood, T., & Peterson, C. (2008). Autism spectrum symptomatology in children: the impact of family and peer relationships. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 36(7), 1069.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Laghi, F., Lonigro, A., Pallini, S., Gradilone, A., Bechini, A., Marziano, G., & Baiocco, R. (2018). Sibling relationships and family functioning in siblings of early adolescents, adolescents and young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of Child and family Studies, 27(3), 793–801.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lonigro, A., Baiocco, R., Baumgartner, E., Sette, S., & Laghi, F. (2017). Persuasion in school-aged children: How does it change if the persuade is the mother or a peer? Cognitive Processing, 18, 67–74.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Libero, L. E., Maximo, J. O., Deshpande, H. D., Klinger, L. G., Klinger, M. R., & Kana, R. K. (2014). The role of mirroring and mentalizing networks in mediating action intentions in autism. Molecular Autism, 5, 50.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Lord, C., Risi, S., Lambrecht, L., Cook, Jr., E. H., Leventhal, B. L., DiLavore, P. C., Pickles, A., & Rutter, M. (2000). The autism diagnostic observation schedule–generic: a standard measure of social and communication deficits associated with the spectrum of autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 30, 205–223.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lord, C., Wagner, A., Rogers, S., Szatmari, P., Aman, M., & Charman, T., et al. (2005). Challenges in evaluating psychosocial interventions for autistic spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 35(6), 695–708.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Losh, M., Childress, D., Lam, K., & Piven, J. (2008). Defining key features of the broad autism phenotype: a comparison across parents of multiple-and single- incidence autism families. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics, 147(4), 424–433.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malagoli Togliatti, M., & Mazzoni, S. (2006). Osservare, valutare e sostenere la relazione genitori-figli. Il Lausanne Trilogue Play Clinico LTPc. Milano: Raffaello Cortina Editore.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marcu, I., Oppenheim, D., & Koren-Karie, N. (2016). Parental insightfulness is associated with cooperative interactions in families with toddlers. Journal of Family Psychology, 30(8), 927.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Marsh, L. E., & Hamilton, A. F. D. C. (2011). Dissociation of mirroring and mentalising systems in autism. NeuroImage, 56(3), 1511–1519.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McHale, J. (2007). Charting the Bumpy Road of Coparenthood: Understanding the challenges of family life. Washington, DC: Zero To Three.

    Google Scholar 

  • McHale, J., Fivaz Depeursinge, E., Dickstein, S., Robertson, J., & Daley, M. (2008). New evidence for the social embeddedness of infants’ early triangular capacities. Family Process, 47(4), 245–263.

    Google Scholar 

  • Minuchin, S. (1974). Families and Family Therapy. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Montes, G., & Halterman, J. S. (2007). Psychological functioning and coping among mothers of children with autism: A population-based study. Pediatrics, 119(5), e1040–e1046.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Oberman, L., & Ramachandran, V. (2007). The simulating social mind: the role of the mirror neuron system and simulation in the social and communicative deficits of autism spectrum disorders. Psychological Bulletin, 133, 310–327.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Oppenheim, D., & Koren-Karie (2013). The insightfulness assessment: Measuring the internal processes underlying maternal sensitivity. Attachment and Human Development, 15(5-6), 545–561.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Oppenheim, D., Koren-Karie, N., Dolev, S., & Yirmiya, N. (2009). Maternal insightfulness and resolution of the diagnosis are associated with secure attachment in preschoolers with autism spectrum disorders. Child Development, 80(2), 519–527.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Phelps, R., Nickel, R., Eisert, D., & Stein, M. T. (2013). Parental influence on a child’s autistic traits. Journal of Developmenta l and Behavioral Pediatrics, 34, 730–732.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pottie, C. G., & Ingram, K. M. (2008). Daily stress, coping, and well-being in parents of children with autism: a multilevel modeling approach. Journal of Family Psychology, 22(6), 855.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rao, P. A., & Beidel, D. C. (2009). The impact of children with high-functioning autism on parental stress, sibling adjustment, and family functioning. Behavior Modification, 33(4), 437–451.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, S., Dawson, G., & Vismara, L. A. (2012). ). An early start for your child with autism: using everyday activities to help kids connect, communicate, and learn. New York: The Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rutgers, A. H., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., Ijzendoorn, M. H., & Berckelaer-Onnes, I. A. (2004). Autism and attachment: a meta-analytic review. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45(6), 1123–1134.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sigman, M., & Ruskin, E. (1999). Continuity and change in the social competence of children with autism, Down syndrome, and developmental delays. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 64 (1) 1–114.

  • Stern, D. N. (1985). The interpersonal world of the infant. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sucksmith, E., Roth, I., & Hoekstra, R. A. (2011). Autistic traits below the clinical threshold: re-examining the broader autism phenotype in the 21st century. Neuropsychology Review, 21(4), 360–389.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, J. L., & Warren, Z. E. (2012). Maternal depressive symptoms following autism spectrum diagnosis. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 42(7), 1411–1418.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Trevarthen, C., & Aitken, K. J. (2001). Infant intersubjectivity: research, theory and clinical applications. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 42(1), 3–48.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Van IJzendoorn, M. H., Rutgers, A. H., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., Swinkels, S. H., Van Daalen, E., & Dietz, C., et al. (2007). Parental sensitivity and attachment in children with autism spectrum disorder: Comparison with children with mental retardation, with language delays, and with typical development. Child Development, 78(2), 597–608.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • van Steijn, D., Oerlemans, A. M., van Aken, M., Buitelaar, J., & Rommelse, N. (2014). The reciprocal relationship of ASD, ADHD, depressive symptoms and stress in parents of children with ASD and/or ADHD. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 44, 1064–1076.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vivanti, G., Prior, M., Williams, K., & Dissanayake, C. (2014). Predictors of outcome in autism early intervention: why don’t we know more? Frontiers in Pediatrics, 2, 58.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Wynne, L. C. (1984). The epigenesis of relational systems: A model for understanding family development. Family Process, 23(3), 297–318.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author Contributions

SM, CV and LV: designed the study. SM and CV: executed the study. FL: analyzed the data and wrote part of the results. SM, CV, FL, and LV: collaborated with the design and writing of the study. SM, CV, DP, LV, FL: collaborated in the writing and editing of the final manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza Università di Roma, Rome, Italy

    Silvia Mazzoni, Christian Veronesi & Fiorenzo Laghi

  2. Department of Educational Sciences, Psychology, Philosophy- University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy

    Laura Vismara

  3. Hincks-Dellcrest Centre, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Diane Philipp

Authors
  1. Silvia Mazzoni
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Christian Veronesi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Laura Vismara
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Fiorenzo Laghi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Diane Philipp
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Silvia Mazzoni.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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. Approval from the Sapienza, University of Rome, Research Ethics Board, Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology was obtained before data were collected for the current study.

Informed Consent

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

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mazzoni, S., Veronesi, C., Vismara, L. et al. Family Coordination in Families who have a Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Child Fam Stud 27, 3107–3116 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-018-1191-4

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-018-1191-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation