Using the Three-Minute Speech Sample to Examine the Parent-Adolescent Relationship in Autistic Youth: A Qualitative Analysis

PURPOSE

This qualitative study examines autistic adolescents' perception of the quality of their relationship with their parent using the Three Minute Speech Sample.

METHODS

Twenty autistic youth (13-17 years; 83% male) spoke, uninterrupted, for three minutes about their thoughts and feelings regarding their mothers. Audio-recorded speech samples were transcribed and coded for emergent themes.

RESULTS

Adolescents highlighted emotional support and acceptance in the context of their relationship, support mothers provide for mental health, love and caring, efforts to build the relationship through shared activities, and areas of adolescent-parent conflict.

CONCLUSION

The TMSS is a low cost, low burden method by which autistic adolescents can comfortably and effectively self-report the quality of their relationship with their parent/caregiver.

Attachment-based parent–adolescent interaction linked to visual attention and autonomic arousal to distress and comfort stimuli

In infancy and in the early years of life, emotion regulation and attachment relationships with parents are tightly intertwined. However, whether this link persists into adolescence has not yet been established and requires exploration. This pilot study utilizes an experimental design to assess the patterns of parent–adolescent interactions that are hypothesised to be related to two specific aspects of adolescents’ emotion regulation, namely: visual attention and autonomic arousal to distress and comfort stimuli. Two innovative and ecologically valid methodologies were utilized to assess (a) patterns of attachment-based parent–adolescent interactions among 39 adolescent–parent dyads from the general population, using the Goal-corrected Partnership in Adolescence Coding System (Lyons-Ruth et al. Goal corrected partnership in adolescence coding system (GPACS), 2005) applied to a conflict discussion task; (b) the two aspects of adolescent emotion regulation were assessed with the Visual/Autonomic Regulation of Emotions Assessment (VAREA) (Vulliez-Coady et al. Visual/Autonomic Regulation of Emotions Assessment, VAREA) paradigm, an attachment-related, emotionally arousing experimental procedure, using a distress-then-comfort paradigm, in conjunction to an eye-tracker synchronized with a physiological device that measured gaze and skin conductance response, (SCR), or emotional reactivity. In line with research in infancy, as predicted, markers of secure parent–adolescent interaction were linked to higher amplitude of SCR for distress and comfort pictures, and with longer attention to comfort pictures. On the other hand, parental role-confusion was associated with less time spent on comfort pictures by the adolescent. Overall, this pilot study suggests that interventions supporting collaborative communication between adolescents and their parents, as well as working to reduce parental role-confusion, may improve adaptive adolescent emotion regulation as assessed via physiological measures.

Parent-Child Synchrony After Early Childhood: A Systematic Review

Parent-child synchrony, or the coordination of biological and behavioral processes between parent and child, is thought to promote healthy relationships and support youth adjustment. Although extensive work has been conducted on parent-child synchrony during infancy and early childhood, less is known about synchrony in middle childhood and adolescence and the contextual factors that impact synchrony, particularly physiological synchrony. This is a systematic and qualitative review of 37 studies of behavioral and physiological synchrony in parent-child interactions after early childhood (parents with youth ages 5-18). Behavioral and physiological synchrony were typically identified in youth and their parents beyond early childhood and related to positive outcomes; however, research on father-child synchrony is rarer with mixed findings. Multiple factors are associated with synchrony, including parent and youth psychological symptoms and disorders, parenting factors, such as over-controlling parenting, and parent characteristics, such as interparental aggression and conflict. Few studies have examined behavioral and physiological synchrony simultaneously and longitudinally, limiting our ability to understand the relationship between types of synchrony and later adjustment. Available studies suggest that the context, such as presence of psychopathology or exposure to trauma, influences whether synchrony is associated with positive or negative outcomes. This review highlights the need for additional research to understand the relationship between types of synchrony and the long-term effects and contextual factors that impact youth outcomes.

An Israeli RCT of PEERS®: Intervention Effectiveness and the Predictive Value of Parental Sensitivity

OBJECTIVES

A Randomized Controlled Trial was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the Hebrew adaptation of the Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS®), a parent-assisted intervention. Parental sensitivity (PS), measured in conflict and support contexts, was assessed as a predictor of adolescents' intervention-related outcomes.

DESIGN

Eighty-two Hebrew-speaking adolescents (9 females), aged 12-17 years, and their parents (62 mothers), were randomly allocated into immediate intervention (II; n = 40) or delayed intervention control (DI; n = 42) groups. Participants were tested at three time-points (Pre-Post-Follow Up for II, Pre-Pre-Post for DI). Outcome measures included behavioral assessments of adolescents' social communication (SC), a social-skills knowledge test, and self, parent, and teacher reported questionnaires. PS was assessed using support and conflict parent-adolescent interactions. Repeated measures ANOVAs were used to assess intervention effectiveness. SEM was used to examine PS pre- and post-intervention as predictors of adolescents' immediate and follow-up outcomes.

RESULTS

The II group improved on adolescents' measured SC and social knowledge, on parent-(but not teacher-) reported social skills, and on self-reported empathy. Gains maintained at follow-up. The DI group showed similar gains following their intervention. Adolescents' intervention-related SC gains were negatively predicted by pre-intervention PS, and positively predicted by intervention-related PS changes in the support context. Pre-intervention PS in the conflict context positively predicted adolescent SC at follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS

The Hebrew-adapted PEERS® is an effective intervention for adolescents with ASD. PS plays an important role in the promotion of SC in adolescents with ASD and should receive clinical attention.