Abstract:

This descriptive, exploratory study investigated whether the depressive symptoms of mothers of young children with Pervasive Developmental Disabilities (PDD) was associated with their participation in a relationship focused intervention. Nineteen parent-child dyads received weekly Responsive Teaching (RT) intervention sessions for 10 months. Results indicated significant pre- post- differences in parents’ responsivenss with their children as well as children’s development and social emotional functioning. Changes in mothers’ responsivenss accounted for between 5 to 26% of the variance in intervention changes in children’s development and social emotional functioning. While mothers’ depressive symptoms were not associated with intervention changes in responsiveness, they were negatively associated with intervention changes in children’s development and social emotional functioning. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for early intervention practice. Keywords: Early intervention, Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, Relationship, Focused Intervention, Parental Responsiveness, Parenting Depression 

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