Effects of in-home training for culturally diverse fathers of children with autism

Abstract

Recently there has been mounting interest in the role of fathers and the effect of their increasing involvement on child development. However, to date, little has been reported regarding the role of fathers with developmentally delayed children (e.g., autism, pervasive developmental delays) and cultural influences on father-child interactions. In this article we address this knowledge gap by reporting four cases representing the major ethnic groups. For each case, we (1) define the concept of fatherhood in its cultural context, (2) review and summarize related father-child research, and (3) present findings from our study evaluating the effects of an in-home intervention for autistic children. While variability is noted within and among the culturally diverse father-child dyads, there are also similarities across ethnic groups. Results of this study are promising, demonstrating the value of single subject experimental methods in characterizing and beginning to understand complex father-child interactions in autism and related child psychiatric disorders.