Social Interactions Between 24-Month-Old Children and Their Older Sibling with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Characteristics and Association with Social-Communicative Development

This study compared sibling interactions between 24-month-old children and their older sibling with ASD (high-risk; n=24) with 24-month-old children and their typically developing older sibling (low-risk; n=32). First, high-risk sibling pairs showed lower levels of positive behaviour and younger siblings of children with ASD imitated their older sibling less. Second, in the high-risk group positive interactions were positively associated with the youngest child's language abilities. However, this association was no longer significant after controlling for language abilities at 14 months. Third, more total interactions in the high-risk group, both negative and positive, were associated with more ASD characteristics. Thus, early sibling interactions might reveal interesting information in light of the (atypical) developmental trajectories of younger siblings of children with ASD.