PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
This training grant will build the trainee's research skills related to identification of active ingredients in autism
intervention, community collaboration, and data analysis through completion of coursework, guided activities,
and completion of a research project. Parents are increasingly called upon to assist with the delivery of early
interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Two different evidence-based intervention
approaches—structured behavioral interventions and naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions
(NDBI)—are most frequently utilized. These approaches differ in the methods they emphasize in parent-
delivery of the intervention. For instance, the parent delivery of structured behavioral intervention Discrete
Trial Training (DTT) emphasizes the provision of learning opportunities—opportunities for the child to develop
a skill, new or emerging—coupled with the learning principals of applied behavior analysis (ABA) to enhance
child learning with limited attention to the caregiver/child relationship. In contrast, parent delivery of the
Early Start Denver Model (ESDM), an NDBI, focuses on establishing an affectively rich caregiver interaction—
by promoting sensitive and responsive parenting behaviors—and incorporates the learning principles of ABA
into a subset of those interactions. These two interventions differ in their prioritization of the provision of
learning opportunities and parent-child interaction. To our knowledge, no studies have compared parent
implementation of structured behavioral and NDBI interventions. This study compares the parent-child
interactions for parents of children with ASD who received coaching in positive behavior support strategies
(DTT condition) and those coached in the manualized Parent Early Start Denver Model (P-ESDM) as part of a
larger study in which children received intensive, therapist-implement treatment of either DTT or ESDM.
Video recordings were collected monthly for 12 months of an object-play activity (e.g., toy play) between the
parent and child. We will code months 1, 4, 8, and 12 for: (1) the quality of the parent-child interaction; (2) the
variety, frequency, and quality of learning opportunities provided; and (3) the child's dyadic engagement with
the goal of understanding the effects of intervention training on the parent-child interaction. An examination
of change in parent behavior based on these different intervention approaches may help elucidate potential
mechanisms of change for downstream child outcomes. Measuring the active ingredients across intervention
approach may lead to a greater understanding of how best to support parents of children with ASD. This
project will take place in an interdisciplinary training environment with an outstanding research infrastructure
designed to support young scholars. As part of this fellowship, the trainee will receive training in parent
coaching and parenting behavior that supports child development, statistical and behavioral coding
methodology, the dissemination and communication of research findings to the community, and community
partnered participatory research.
