
Laura Lee McintyreUniversity of Oregon | UO · Department of Special Education and Clinical Sciences
Laura Lee Mcintyre
PhD
About
133
Publications
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Introduction
Identification and treatment of developmental, behavioral, and mental health concerns in children.
Additional affiliations
September 2009 - present
Publications
Publications (133)
The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the parent-report Short Form Positive Family Support Strengths and Needs Assessment (PFS-SaNA). The PFS-SaNA is designed to reduce the time and burden of collaborative mental health screening. Parents of 245 students in the Northwest completed the screener at third, fourth, fif...
BACKGROUND
Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, caregivers of children with rare neurogenetic conditions (NGC) experienced elevated physical and mental health challenges; these challenges further escalated during COVID-19 due to crisis-level breakdowns in support and intervention services. Telehealth mental health and parenting support services exp...
Reliable and valid assessment of parenting and child behaviors is critical for clinicians and researchers alike, and observational measures of parenting behaviors are often considered the gold standard for assessing parenting and parent–child interaction quality. The present study sought to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Coder Impress...
Prior research points to the promotion of parenting self-efficacy (PSE) as an important component of parenting interventions; however, few studies have tested PSE as a mediator or moderator of the effects of parenting programs on child behavior. In the present study, we examined the efficacy of the family check-up (FCU), a brief, strengths-based pa...
Children with developmental delays (DD) are at heightened risk for developing behavior problems, which contribute to parenting stress and caregiving burden. There is an established relation between parenting behaviors and child developmental outcomes with less known about parent–child interactions in young children with DD. The present study examin...
Hispanic/Latinx parents of children with developmental delays/disabilities (DD) face disparities in service access and research participation. In the present study, 60 Spanish-speaking caregivers of young children with DD participated in randomly assigned stress reduction interventions (psychoeducation/support groups or Mindfulness-Based Stress Red...
High-stress events (e.g., natural disasters, political unrest, disease) significantly impact the lives of children and families. The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is one event that has brought numerous hardships to families and children with developmental disabilities (DD), likely exacerbating already heightened levels of stress. For this stu...
Parents play a significant role in shaping children’s behaviors and their responses to emotions. Research has established a strong, bi-directional effect between parenting stress and children’s challenging behaviors. Research also suggests the ways in which parents respond to their own emotions to accomplish goals, termed emotion regulation (ER), m...
School and medical settings often use different identification criteria for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a neurodevelopmental disability affecting social-communication, behavioral patterns, and sensory experiences. Further, individual states may use varied definitions for special education eligibility. On January 1, 2019, the State of Oregon beg...
Home-based involvement refers to caregivers' active efforts to create learning opportunities for their children at home and in the community. Across child development, home-based involvement is a positive influence on children's social-emotional and academic functioning. Findings have suggested that home-based involvement tends to decline during el...
The rapid transition to virtual learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic created unprecedented challenges that significantly impacted caregivers of young children, particularly those with developmental delays and children from non-English speaking households (Valicenti-McDermott et al., 2022). The current study aims to describe caregivers’ concerns re...
Dimensions of family-school partnerships, including parent-teacher relationship quality and family educational involvement, are associated with positive outcomes for youth. Family-school partnerships are important for autistic youth, who may particularly benefit from cross-setting supports. Coordinated family-school partnerships may help maximize c...
Children with developmental delay (DD) are at increased risk for behavioral difficulties. Past research has indicated that behavioral problems can interact with other parental difficulties in families of children with DD. To date, no research has explored the moderating role of marital satisfaction in the relationship between child behavioral diffi...
It is well established that parenting influences child behavior at home, but less is known about the associations between parenting and teacher reports of child behavior at school, an environment more distal from the home context. This study investigated the presence of authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, and uninvolved parenting styles (PS)...
Purpose
There remain few available tools to assess language development in Spanish–English dual language learner (DLL) toddlers in the United States. Of interest is the development of early sentences as children move from producing single words to producing multiword utterances. This study is the first to extend sentence diversity to the context of...
Parents of children with developmental delay (DD) report significantly higher levels of parenting stress compared to parents of children with typical development. There is a heightened need for social support among families of children with DD. Siblings play an important role in these contexts as a supportive resource and primary stress buffer. Lit...
The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a family-centered intervention delivered during early elementary school, the Family Check-Up (FCU), in supporting parents' use of proactive parenting skills and the role that parental self-efficacy (PSE) has in promoting proactive parenting. We predicted both direct and mediated effects of the...
The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of the Family Check-Up initiated during kindergarten on teacher-report of children’s emotional and behavior concerns in fourth grade. Participants were 57 primary caregivers, along with their children and teachers. Participants were randomized to a Family Check-Up condition or school-as-usual co...
Although school-based preventive parenting interventions have been found to promote children's social-emotional skill development and behavioral functioning, it is important to understand potential barriers to engagement in such programs to ensure that intervention access is equitable and likely to reach those who could most benefit. In the present...
Supportive, informed parenting is critical to improve outcomes of children who experience intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Parents want to learn about their child's condition, needs, and strategies to improve family life. The internet is a valuable resource, but how parents evaluate and apply information is unknown. We conducted f...
Childhood trauma can lead to lifelong detrimental outcomes. Intergenerational trauma should be considered when supporting healthy parent–child relationships. Research is needed on intergenerational trauma in relation to children’s negative life event exposure, which could compound intergenerational trauma. We examined the prevalence of and relation...
Background
Self-directed web-based parent-mediated intervention programs may help counter some barriers associated with access to evidence-based practices.
Methods
The current study is a systematic review of 14 studies that included parent-mediated intervention programs for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), reported on child outcomes,...
Early childhood special education (ECSE) professionals were forced to drastically change their methods of providing services as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this qualitative study, we conducted interviews to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted ECSE professionals both personally and professionally. ECSE rofessionals described...
In-person supports for parents of young children with developmental delay were closed in spring of 2020 in the United States due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When services were disrupted, our team of social workers and psychologists were working with families in the community as part of a research program promoting positive parenting, healthy family a...
Given that quality early school experiences are predictive of later school success, fostering efficacious early education and kindergarten adjustment is an educational priority. Yet pre-COVID-19 research demonstrates that children who are at risk for academic difficulties experience barriers in school that require additional support during their ea...
Responsive school mental health services require proactive family engagement at the outset of prevention and early intervention, particularly across key transition periods such as kindergarten. Universal screening for mental health is one important process within a school mental health framework to proactively engage families in a collaborative dat...
Families of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often utilize a variety of services. Relatively few studies have examined the relationship between family empowerment and service utilization for this population. The present study investigated the relationship between family empowerment and service utilization in families of children with AS...
Several studies have documented the difficult experience of raising a child with a developmental delay (DD; DeGrace et al., 2014) but the majority of research has focused on non-Latinx White families and their experiences in childrearing and interacting with service providers (Hayes & Watson, 2013; Blanche et al., 2015). Additionally, stigma associ...
Young children with developmental disabilities (DDs) experience motor skill deficits compared to their peers without disabilities. Even though parents play an important role in developing their children’s motor skills, it has not been widely studied how parental behaviors influence motor skill development in young children with DDs. Therefore, the...
Family-school partnerships are crucial for promoting positive outcomes and serving as a protective factor for children at-risk for poor school outcomes (Christenson & Sheridan, 2001). This may be particularly important for autistic children, who are at increased developmental risk (Garbacz et al., 2016). However, little research has examined variab...
Children with autism may display an externalizing problem behavior, which are associated with increased parenting stress and depression in caregivers. Mindful parenting is defined as having a non-judgmental moment-to-moment awareness during caregiver-child interactions. The extant literature is mixed, with some reporting that associations between c...
The increasingly diverse and complex student population school psychologists serve necessitates a reconceptualization of the field with explicit emphasis on interprofessional, interagency collaborations (IIC) to promote equitable and high-quality services for all students. School psychologists are positioned to play a central role in IIC with speci...
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects social-communication and behavior and is associated with a range of mental health conditions and challenging behaviors. Family-centered interventions delivered in early childhood can help improve child behavioral outcomes and improve adaptive functioning. The current revie...
Background:
Deficits in executive functioning (EF) have been measured in individuals with developmental disabilities, such as autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, through the use of behaviour rating scales and performance-based assessment. Associations between EF and variables such as challenging and adaptive beha...
We reviewed federal special education data to determine school-identified prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other disability categories by U.S. state. We also examined whether state-level policies, demographic factors, and rates of other eligibility categories are predictive of these state ASD rates. Results indicate that overall, 1...
Families play an important role in supporting children’s learning and behavioral health. School psychologists are ideally situated to promote family–school partnerships, home–school collaboration, and enhance positive parenting practices on behalf of students. When American schools closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, many families ex...
Introduction: Parenting children with intellectual and developmental disabilities can be stressful; however, families with religious beliefs may have positive ways of viewing their family. This study explored the associations between religious and spiritual involvement (RSI), family characteristics, parent mental health, and child adaptive and prob...
Special education service delivery may vary, in part, by geographic location of the school districts. This variation may be especially important to understand for students who require comprehensive evaluations and specialized services, such as students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Much of the existing literature focuses on geographic locati...
Interventions that promote parent and child well-being in families with children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are important, given the caregiving burden often associated with supporting children with developmental and behavioral challenges. This article summarizes a presentation made at the 2019 AAIDD annual conference and...
Background
The COVID‐19 pandemic introduced challenges to families with young children with developmental delays. Beyond the widespread concerns surrounding illness, loss of employment and social isolation, caregivers are responsible for overseeing their children's educational and therapeutic programmes at home often without the much needed support...
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a lifelong neurodevelopmental disorder that requires ongoing coordinated care and management across caregivers and professionals. A variety of interventions are used in the management of ASD, and it is important to evaluate the effectiveness and implementation of interventions and programs. First, this chapter disc...
Resting state fMRI (rs-fMRI) research could provide an essential lens into neurobiological mechanisms through which sensory over-responsivity differentially contributes to the development of anxiety in children with ASD and developmental delays. However, due to the nature of MRI acquisition, it’s possible anxiety and sensory over-responsivity could...
Joint engagement involves a child coordinating their attention between a person and a shared event. Children with autism present with impaired joint engagement. Playdates are a common way that children socially engage yet have been largely overlooked in the social skills literature. Requesting skills have been conceptualized as pivotal, producing c...
Rates of children identified as having autism spectrum disorder (ASD) continue to increase in both medical and school settings. While procedures for providing a medical diagnosis are relatively consistent throughout the United States, the process for determining special education eligibility under an ASD classification varies by state, with many st...
Optimal service delivery for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often involves interdisciplinary care coordination between primary care clinicians, community-based providers, and school personnel such as school psychologists. Interdisciplinary care coordination includes communication and collaboration from multiple providers to facilitate...
The current study explored cross-sectional relations between coparenting quality and child problem behaviors, as measured by parent report and direct observation, in families of school-aged children previously identified with a developmental delay in early childhood. Parents' reports of difficulty with coparenting problems predicted child problem b...
Research has examined factors related to eligibility for special education services for children. However, less is known about which factors are related to children being found no longer eligible for special education services. This poster will examine various child, family, and service utilization variables that predict the de-classification of sp...
In this study, we examined the efficacy of a version of the Family Check-Up (FCU) adapted for kindergarten school entry with regard to parenting skills during the transition to school. We also examined whether improvements in parenting skills would mediate improvements in parent- and teacher-rated child behavior problems from kindergarten to second...
Objective. To examine whether children’s early communication skills at age 3 predict special education outcomes at kindergarten entry. Methods. Data from 139 children eligible for early intervention or early childhood special education services were examined. Early communication was defined separately as expressive and receptive language skills and...
Background:
Children with disabilities often experience delays in one or more domains of development including motor skill delays. Delays in motor skill development may put children further behind their peers without disabilities in respect to aspects of early learning.
Aims:
The purpose of this study was to examine how gross motor skills mediat...
People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have clear differences in social-communication and behavior. Further, ASD is associated with deficits in adaptive functioning, even when cognitive skills are intact (e.g., Liss et al., 2001; Volkmar et al., 1987). Adaptive functioning encompasses skills that are involved in coping with the demands of the e...
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) display social-communication deficits and present with rigid and repetitive patterns of behavior and/or interests (RRBIs). Compared to interventions for social-communication skills, less attention has been given to RRBIs, especially with regard to interventions for young children. We surveyed 128 behavio...
We reviewed the demographic reporting practices and diversity of participants in published randomized controlled trial studies of group-based social skills interventions (GSSIs) for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A total of 17 studies met inclusionary criteria. Results of this review suggest that the majority of published RCTs rep...
Higher levels of externalizing behaviors results in more conflict and less closeness in the student-teacher relationship (Silver, Measelle, Armstrong & Essex, 2005). Students with more positive student-teacher relationships are rated by teachers as having higher academic achievement (Pianta & Stuhlman, 2004). Students with disabilities tend to have...
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of a family-centered preventive intervention, the Family Check-Up (FCU), on improving parenting skills during kindergarten and first grade, when children are challenged to engage in a variety of new behaviors, such as sustained attention and self-regulation of behavior in the classroom. Buildin...
The impact of the Family Check-Up (FCU) on family-school engagement was tested in a randomized, controlled trial. Participants were primary caregivers of 321 children. Approximately 87% of families randomly assigned to the intervention agreed to participate and received the intervention. Caregivers in the FCU condition outperformed caregivers in th...
Children with developmental delays (DD) pose unique caregiving challenges, given their developmental problems and risks for behavior problems (Baker, McIntyre, Blacher, Crnic, Edelbrock, & Low, 2003). Most of the studies involving caregivers of children with DD have highlighted the role of mothers, with very few studies focusing specifically on fat...
Determining factors associated with child health behaviors may help inform health care policies and interventions that promote physical and mental health of children with developmental disabilities. The study is cross-sectional and correlational. Despite the large sample size, racial/ethnic diversity was limited, which restricts generalizability of...
This study reports results of a randomized, controlled trial examining the efficacy of the Family Check-Up (FCU) initiated during kindergarten on teacher report of children’s emotional and behavior problems in first and second grade. Children’s emotional and behavior needs and the receipt of special services in school at pretest were examined as mo...
Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) require a substantial level of support
and services in and outside of the home). Early identification of ASD has led to an
increase of children under the age of five receiving early intervention (EI) and early
childhood special education (ECSE) services. The transition from EI/ECSE to
elementary school...
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) present with complex medical problems that are often exacerbated by a range of other intellectual and psychiatric comorbidities. These children receive care for their physical and mental health from a range of providers within numerous child-serving systems, including their primary care clinic, school, a...
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is the fastest growing group of neurodevelopmental disorders in childhood. Earlier detection means an increased need for early intervention and other educational services. This study examined what services a sample of young children with ASD received, what variables predicted service utilization, and how satisfied par...
Background
Parents’ positive and negative feelings about their young children influence both parenting behaviour and child problem behaviour. Research has not previously examined factors that contribute to positive and negative feelings in parents of young children with developmental delay (DD).
Method
The present study sought to examine whether o...
Young children with developmental disabilities experience known deficits in salient child behaviors, such as social behaviors, communication, and aspects of daily living, behaviors that generally improve with chronological age. The purpose of this study was to examine the mediating effects of motor skills on relations of age and salient child behav...
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may display an array of externalizing problem behavior including aggression, non-compliance, and defiance. Such problem behaviors are associated with increased stress and depression in parents (e.g., Neece et al., 2012). There is a growing research base examining protective factors in parents, including...
Child characteristics, such as behavior and medical problems, along with family characteristics, such as parenting stress and parent mental health, may affect the educational experiences of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Importantly, these child and family characteristics may be associated with two key areas of the family-school part...
Background Understanding adaptive behaviour variability in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may have important implications for early intervention. The purpose of this study was to explore whether autism symptom severity and caregiver depression affected adaptive behaviour in young children with ASD.
Method Data were collected from 60 p...
Initial intervention processes for children with intellectual disabilities (IDs) largely focused on direct efforts to impact core cognitive and academic deficits associated with the diagnosis. Recent research on risk processes in families of children with ID, however, has influenced new developmental system approaches to early intervention. Recent...