Observations of parent-child play with toys are often used to assess interactions between parents and non-autistic as well as autistic children, but some research indicates that play without toys may elicit more positive interactions than play with toys. The first goal of the study was to examine whether this is true in the case of autistic…

Reliable and valid assessment of parenting and child behaviors is critical for clinicians and researchers alike, and observational measures of parenting behaviors are often considered the gold standard for assessing parenting and parent-child interaction quality. The current study sought to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Coder…

Co-occurring emotional and behavioral problems (EBPs) frequently exist in young autistic children. There is evidence based on parental report that parenting interventions reduce child EBPs. More objective measures of child EBPs should supplement parent reported outcomes in trials. We describe the development of a new measure of child and parenting…

Background: Parenting strategies such as communicating clear expectations, providing calm directions, and teaching specific skills can strengthen young children's social-emotional development. Parenting programs for children with disruptive behavior often emphasize gaining compliance via effective directives, and less on how to facilitate child…

Background: Informant discrepancies between mother and child have challenged the assessment, classification, and treatment of childhood anxiety. Despite numerous studies on this matter, the implications and consequences for research and clinical practice remain unclear. Objective: The present study aimed to obtain meaningful clinical information…

Background: Despite widespread use of digital toys, research evidence of how a digital toy's features affect children's development and the nature of parent-child interactions during play is limited. Objective: The present study aimed to examine how mother-child dyads experience a traditional stuffed toy and an animated digital toy by comparing…

Parental involvement (PI) in their children's schools has been shown to have a positive influence on the children's behaviours and academic achievement. The purpose of this study was to examine predictors of PI and relations of PI in schools to child externalizing and internalizing behaviours. Data were from the fifth-grade wave of the Early Head…

The period covering the first 3 months of life consists of a series of pivotal, life-changing transitions for the infant, for the parents, and for the emerging parent-child relationship. The Newborn Behavioral Observations (NBO) system is a relationship-based tool that offers individualized information to parents about their baby's communication…

Infants' motor skill development triggers changes in parent-infant interactions, exploration, and play behaviors, particularly during periods of locomotor transitions. We investigated how these transitions reorganized infants' and mothers' explorations of spatial layouts. Thirteen infants and their mothers were followed biweekly from the age of 6…

Given that maternal support promotes healthy social and emotional development in early childhood, it is important to understand the predictors of such support, especially during emotional challenges. In this study, mothers' dispositional distress reactivity (i.e., the tendency toward experiencing distress in response to children's negative…

The present study fills a gap in existing visitor research by focusing on the preschool age group. The study explores relationships between parent explanation, children's exploratory behavior, and their domain-specific learning in a shadow exhibition. In addition, the effect of a preceding theater show on child and parent behaviors is examined. In…

This study examined the longitudinal relations of mother-child affect exchanges at 18?months with children's mastery motivation at 39?months. Observation and questionnaire data were collected from mother-child dyads when children were 18?months; 43 mothers again rated their children's mastery motivation at 39?months. Results suggested…

The objective of this present is to test the effects of the parents' parenting patterns, education, jobs, and assistance to children in watching television on the children's aggressive behavior. This present research employed a quantitative approach with an ex-post factor design. The data were collected from 175 parents of which the children…

The purpose of this study was to identify how parents' use of language and literacy strategies during an adapted shared book reading activity relate to social, behavioral, and cognitive skills for their children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Participants were 111 young children (ages 4-7 years) with ASD and their mothers. A factor analysis…

The purpose of this study was to identify how parents' use of language and literacy strategies during an adapted shared book reading activity relate to social, behavioral, and cognitive skills for their children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Participants were 111 young children (ages 4-7 years) with ASD and their mothers. A factor analysis…