Play with Me: How Fathers and Mothers Play with Their Preschoolers with Autism

(1) Background: Children can develop cognitive and social skills during play. Most research has focused on mothers, but the paternal features in interaction with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are mainly unexplored. This study aimed to compare fathers' and mothers' interactive behaviors with their children with ASD to identify similarities and differences during playful exchanges. (2) Methods: A total of 72 mothers and 72 fathers of paired children with ASD (chronological age: M = 44.61 months; SD = 13.37) took part in this study. Data were collected during 10 min of video-recorded semi-structured interactions with mothers and fathers separately in interaction with their children. (3) Results: Mothers showed more symbolic play (W = 3537; p < 0.001) than fathers, who displayed higher levels of exploratory play (t(139.44) = -2.52; p = 0.013) compared to mothers. However, child cognitive functioning impacts maternal play but not the father's play characteristics. (4) Conclusions: Highlighting mother-child and father-child features may have important service delivery implications for implementing personalized parental-based interventions based on the strengths and weaknesses of both caregivers in a complementary system.

Automated summary

This study compared the interactive behaviors of fathers and mothers with their children with ASD during play activities. The results showed that mothers engaged more in symbolic play, while fathers displayed higher levels of exploratory play. However, child cognitive functioning only impacted maternal play, not paternal play characteristics.