Parent-child interaction in families of children with Down syndrome: a systematic literature review

Abstract

This is a systematic literature review with the objective of analyzing studies (from 2006 to 2016) on parent-child interaction in the context of Down syndrome (DS) in the age group of 0-6 years. The databases PsycINFO, PubMed, Scielo and BVS were searched using the keywords: "mother-child interaction", "father-child interaction", "parent-child interaction", and "Down syndrome". From 122 publications, twelve were qualitative analyses and were about parent-child interaction with DS. We found that the majority of studies focused on mother-child interaction, followed by father-child interaction and parent-child interaction. The analysis showed a focus on the communication patterns between parents and children with DS, as well as a diversity of constructs to approach the interaction. Different approaches and methods were used, with the main results pointing to specifications in the interaction with the child with DS. A tendency of a change in the concept of maternal directivity stood out and was understood now as an adaptive function. Finally, the contributions of this studies point out for clearer guidelines for professionals working with children with DS.

Keywords: parent-child interaction, Down syndrome, child development