Relationships Between Family Characteristics, Parenting Practices, and Child Problem Behaviors Among Diverse Families of Children With Developmental Delay

Abstract

Children with Developmental Delay (DD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) experience challenging behaviors, including noncompliance, that impact individual and family functioning across settings. Due to developmental risk, parenting has emerged as being especially instrumental within this population, with positive parenting practices directly linked to more positive child outcomes. There are many factors that may be associated with parenting practices including child diagnosis, ethnicity, family income, and parent education. However, much of the extant parenting literature includes White, middle or upper middle-class participants which precludes meaningful within-sample comparisons and limits the generalizability of findings. The following dissertation study aimed to investigate parenting practices (both parent-reported and direct observations of parenting) within an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample of 109 parents and their preschool—aged child with developmental delay. Parents completed self-report measures on their parenting and child’s behavior and participated in a 15-minute video-recorded parent-child interaction. Findings suggest that parents were likely to report using more positive practices and less likely to report using harsh or inconsistent parenting. Parents were also observed to use high levels of inconsistent or vague strategies (i.e., behaviors coded as inappropriate commands and lack of follow through), especially during the clean-up activity. Small associations among parent-reported and direct observations of parenting were found; however, these assessed slightly different constructs of parenting. Family income and parent education were significantly associated with the use of positive parenting practices. Observed use of behaviors coded as inappropriate commands and praise were found to explain unique variance in observed child noncompliance, after accounting for family income. Parent-reported use of harsh or inconsistent discipline explained unique variance in parent reported child externalizing behaviors. Implications of these findings are discussed with respect to family-centered interventions for ethnically and economically diverse families. Limitations and future directions are also articulated.