ABSTRACT
Background: Face-to-face visual contact is a key component of the early parent-child interaction, therefore a visual impairment condition of the parent or the child represents a risk factor for dyadic patterns' development. Aims: The study presents a critical single case of a blind father and a 18-month-old visually impaired child. The study aims to explore changes in the relational functioning of this dyad during an early family-centered intervention. Methods and procedures: Ten parent-child sessions were videotaped and micro-analytically coded. Data were analyzed through a State Space Grid crossing child's social cues and types of father verbalizations. Outcomes and results: Findings showed a stable increase in the amount of child social cues over time. Moreover, the dyad exhibited progressive changes in dyadic regulation, stability, and organization. The return time to the "active interaction" region of interest decreased progressively. A reduction was observed also for the time spent by the dyad in the region "no vocal contact." Conclusions and implications: This critical single case highlighted the benefits of parental engagement in early interventions for the dyadic regulation in parent-child interaction.
ABSTRACT
The dynamic systems (DS) theory has been previously applied to the regulatory processes that characterize the parent-child dyad. These processes provide infants with adequate flexibility to respond and adapt to environmental stimulations and sufficient stability to develop and maintain coherent self-organization. The State Space Grid (SSG) tool was specifically developed to provide graphical representations and quantitative assessments of different measures of dyadic flexibility and organization. During the last 20 years, the SSG has been increasingly adopted in research projects. The present review provides a comprehensive and integrated discussion of the SSG literature about parent-child interaction so far. The literature search was conducted on PubMed and Scopus and 16 studies were selected. Results showed that flexibility allows dyads to manage interactive perturbations, leading the system to a new possible equilibrium and promoting better child outcomes. Studies suggested a developmental trend in organization with a reduction of dispersion at an older age, that was associated with better child functioning. Significant individual differences emerged for child and caregiver sex. In sum, this review confirms the potentials of SSG to depict flexibility and organization constructs in parent-child dyads from a genuine DS perspective. Future SSG studies on atypical and at-risk parent-child populations are needed to bridge the gap between DS research and clinical practice.
