Observational Measures of Parent-Child Interaction used with Neurodivergent Parents or Infants: A Systematic Review

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Castle, V. E., Luthra, N. C., Boyle, L., Hulks, V., Radford, H., Murphy, S., Mathers, S., & Hendry, A. (2024). Observational Measures of Parent-Child Interaction used with Neurodivergent Parents or Infants: A Systematic Review [Preprint]. Center for Open Science. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/m5d27

Publication date: 24 Feb 2024 Added to AutiHub: 6 Jul 2026 Type: Preprint Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
8
Publication authors identified as autistic
2 / 8 (25.0%)
  1. Victoria Ellen Castle
  2. Naveena Cara Luthra
  3. Leoni Boyle
  4. Victoria Hulks
  1. Holly Radford *
  2. Shona Murphy *
  3. Sandra Mathers
  4. Alexandra Hendry

Abstract

Background: Parent-child interaction (PCI) in early childhood plays a key role in children's development. Despite the importance of such interactions for child outcomes, it is possible that observational PCI measures are only suitable for use with neurotypical dyads and are less appropriate when applied to neurodivergent samples (e.g. those who are autistic or have ADHD). Methods: A systematic review of observational PCI measures used with neurodivergent children or parents where the child was aged between 9- and 48-months was conducted. Results: Out of 294 eligible papers, only 19 noted that the PCI measure used had been developed or adapted to ensure that it was appropriate for use with neurodivergent participants. No coding schemes were developed using participatory methods and only one protocol was developed in consultation with the neurodivergent community. Conclusions: Future research should involve the neurodivergent community to develop new PCI measures that are suitable for samples that include neurodivergent individuals, or validate existing measures to check they are appropriate for such samples. Furthermore, researchers need to consider the neurotype of the parent, as well as the child, when applying PCI measures.

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Total cited references integrated for this publication.
Cited references with an identified autistic author
5 / 53 (9.4%)
Cited author occurrences identified as autistic
62 / 338 (18.3%)
Among occurrences linked to AutiHub author records: 62 / 122 (50.8%). Distinct cited authors identified as autistic: 34 / 263 (12.9%).
Cited author occurrences linked to AutiHub author records
122 / 338 (36.1%)
Distinct linked cited authors: 68 / 263 (25.9%)
Linked cited-author occurrences not identified as autistic
60 / 122 (49.2%)
Among linked cited-author occurrences only. Across all cited-author occurrences: 60 / 338 (17.8%). Distinct linked cited authors not identified as autistic: 34 / 68 (50.0%).
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