Sterling Audra, Lorang Emily, Reis Kelsey, Elmquist Marianne
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Am J Speech Lang Pathol. 2025 Mar 10;34(2):834-844. doi: 10.1044/2024_AJSLP-24-00041. Epub 2025 Jan 8.
Joint attention predicts later language in Down syndrome (DS) and autism. The co-occurrence of autism in children with DS is 6%-19%, which is higher than in the general population. However, little is known about how co-occurring autism in DS impacts the development of joint attention. This study compared mother-child and father-child interactions in families of children with DS. Our purpose was to investigate differences in caregiver joint-attention bids and whether caregiver and child joint attention were associated with autistic traits and receptive language in children with DS.
Fifteen children with DS ( = 39.67 months) and their biological caregivers participated in the current study. We collected mother-child and father-child interactions in participant's homes. Using Wilcoxon signed-ranks tests, we examined if there were differences in mothers' and fathers' joint attention bids and if children responded differently to their bids. We used Spearman correlations to examine the associations between child autistic traits, receptive language, and caregiver and child joint attention.
We found that mothers initiated more joint-attention bids than fathers but did not find differences in child responsiveness or initiations based on communication partner. Mothers used more bids when children had more autistic traits. Child autistic traits were negatively correlated with child responsiveness to father joint-attention bids. Children with more autistic traits produced fewer joint-attention bids with both caregivers.
Findings suggest mothers and fathers may use differing approaches to support their child's language development. Regardless of communication partner, children with more autistic traits engaged in fewer instances of joint attention.
共同注意可预测唐氏综合征（DS）和自闭症患儿日后的语言发展。DS患儿中自闭症的共病率为6%-19%，高于一般人群。然而，对于DS中共病的自闭症如何影响共同注意的发展，人们知之甚少。本研究比较了DS患儿家庭中母子和父子之间的互动。我们的目的是调查照料者共同注意行为的差异，以及照料者与儿童的共同注意是否与DS患儿的自闭症特征和接受性语言有关。
15名DS患儿（平均年龄39.67个月）及其亲生照料者参与了本研究。我们在参与者家中收集了母子和父子之间的互动情况。使用威尔科克森符号秩检验，我们检验了母亲和父亲的共同注意行为是否存在差异，以及儿童对他们的行为反应是否不同。我们使用斯皮尔曼相关性分析来检验儿童自闭症特征、接受性语言与照料者和儿童共同注意之间的关联。
我们发现母亲发起的共同注意行为比父亲多，但未发现基于交流对象的儿童反应性或发起行为存在差异。当孩子有更多自闭症特征时，母亲使用的行为更多。儿童自闭症特征与儿童对父亲共同注意行为的反应呈负相关。自闭症特征较多的儿童与两位照料者进行的共同注意行为较少。
研究结果表明，母亲和父亲可能采用不同的方法来支持孩子的语言发展。无论交流对象是谁，自闭症特征较多的儿童进行共同注意的情况较少。
