Digitized Honors Theses (2002-2017)

Amber Cole

Date of Award

5-2014

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Degree Name

BS

Department

Biomedical Sciences

Faculty Mentor

Kimberly Zlomke

Abstract

The Dyadic Parent Child Interaction Coding System-III (DPICS-III) is an observational measure that is used as a proxy for attachment and positive parenting in typically developing children.

The DPICS-III is increasingly being used in research with children with disabilities such as Autism Spectrum Disorder. The DPICS-III is well researched as a reliable and valid measure of interactions of parents and typically developing children but has not yet been validated for use in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The current research examines differences in interactions between parent-child dyads of children with ASD with clinically disruptive behavior and typically developing children with disruptive behavior in an effort to discern how characteristics of ASD affect interactions between parents and their children according to DPICS-III parameters. Analysis of randomly selected data, matched by behavioral severity, has shown that parents of children with ASD use similar levels of positive verbalizations (Behavioral Descriptions, Reflections and Labeled Praise) to parents of typical children, but more directive verbalizations (Commands and Questions). Children with ASD were found to exhibit similar levels of compliance to their typical counterparts. This data suggests that parent-child interactions in children with ASD are relatively similar to those of typical children, despite the deficits in social communication that are inherent in ASD. Further research is necessary to investigate how these findings affect the possibility of the DPICS-III being validated for use in this population.

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