Parent-child interaction, parental attachment styles and parental alexithymia levels of children with ASD.

Temelturk et al. (2021) compared the families. Twenty had a child with autism, 20 had a child with general developmental delay, and 20 had neurotypical kids. All children were 2–6 years old.

Trained raters watched 15-minute play sessions at home. They scored warmth, cooperation, and conflict. Parents also filled out forms about their own attachment style and how well they notice and describe feelings (alexithymia).

Autism-group pairs showed the lowest warmth and the most conflict. Developmental-delay pairs scored in the middle. Neurotypical pairs scored best.

Surprise: parents across all three groups had similar attachment styles and similar alexithymia scores. Poor relationship quality was tied to the child’s diagnosis, not to the parent’s emotional traits.

The result seems to clash with Ben Hassen et al. (2023). That study found adults with autism report high alexithymia. The difference: Nour tested the autistic adults themselves; Duygu tested the parents who do not have autism. High alexithymia may live inside the person with ASD, not in their parents.

Tassé et al. (2013) also saw poorer parent-child fit when fathers had more ASD-like traits. Duygu rules out parent attachment and alexithymia as causes, so future work must look elsewhere—perhaps at child sensory needs or parent interaction style minute-by-minute.

Yorke et al. (2018) pooled 49 studies and showed extra behavior problems in kids with autism raise parent stress. Duygu’s live play scores add direct evidence that the relationship itself is strained, not just the parent’s mood.

When you see low warmth or high conflict during parent coaching, don’t assume the parent lacks insight or secure attachment. Instead, teach specific interaction moves—like imitating the child’s play or labeling feelings out loud—that fit autism-specific needs. Target the dyad, not the parent’s personality.