Emotional Availability and Parent-Child Interaction Quality in Families of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Transactional Perspective

Abstract

Parent-child interaction quality is a critical determinant of socio-emotional development in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Emotional availability (EA) encompassing parental sensitivity, structuring, non-intrusiveness, and non-hostility alongside child responsiveness and involvement offers a theoretically robust framework for understanding the emotional quality of these interactions. The present study examined associations between all four parental EA dimensions and parent-child interaction quality (closeness and conflict) in a sample of 551 mother-father dyads of children with ASD recruited from clinical settings across Delhi and the National Capital Region, India. A transactional perspective was adopted to additionally examine whether child responsiveness and involvement predicted each parental EA dimension, supporting bidirectional influence. Pearson's correlations and simple linear regression analyses were employed separately for mothers and fathers. All four parental EA dimensions sensitivity, structuring, non-intrusiveness, and non-hostility were significantly and strongly associated with closeness (positive) and conflict (negative) for both parents. Effect sizes were substantially larger for mothers than fathers. Child responsiveness and involvement significantly predicted all four parental EA dimensions in regression analyses, supporting a transactional model of caregiving. These findings position EA as a central, bidirectionally constituted mechanism of parent-child relationship quality in ASD and carry direct implications for parent-mediated intervention design in clinical and community settings.