Parent Support of Preschool Peer Relationships in Younger Siblings of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Annette Estes, Jeffrey Munson, Tanya St John and 8 others
PMID 28634707WHAT IT FOUND
Preschool siblings with autism had fewer playmates than at-risk siblings without autism and low-risk peers, and lower-quality home play.
Parents reported more help needed during play and fewer community activities. At-risk siblings without autism matched low-risk peers in playmates and play quality.
Key findings
01Younger siblings with ASD had fewer playmates than high-risk siblings without ASD and low-risk siblings, and lower-quality home play than high-risk siblings without ASD; 53% had no playmates versus 19% and 15%.
02Parents reported that children with ASD needed more help during peer play than the other groups, and children with ASD were involved in fewer weekly community activities than low-risk children.
03Within the ASD group, having no peers was associated with higher internalizing scores and a trend toward higher externalizing scores, while language scores did not vary by peer status within diagnostic groups.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The ASD group was very small, with only 15 children analysed. Over half of the sample did not have a peer playmate or host play dates in the prior three months, so peer measures were sparse. 19 high-risk children without ASD were not directly assessed at preschool age; their group status relied partly on earlier assessment and parent report. Peer relationships and parent support were parent-reported with a questionnaire revised by the research team, not directly observed. The study describes associations at preschool age and does not test whether parent support or therapy improves peer relationships. Follow-up into school age is planned, so later peer problems cannot be inferred from these data.
Declared interests
The authors report no financial conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that younger siblings without ASD have peer problems because they have an older sibling with ASD. In this study, high-risk siblings without ASD did not differ from low-risk siblings in number of playmates or play quality.