Context of directives given to young children with Down syndrome and nonretarded children: development over two years.

The context in which directives are given in parent-child interactions was studied for 2 years in 6 families who had children with Down syndrome and 4 families with nonretarded children, beginning when the children were 12 months old. Comparisons were based on chronological, mental, and verbal age. Measures included implicit and explicit directives, children's moods, play behaviors, attention, and compliance behaviors. The hypothesis that all of these parents would give directives in similar situations was supported by the data. The differences found when the children were matched on CA essentially disappeared when MA was considered. All parents showed similar patterns of change over time, but for parents of children with Down syndrome, the significant changes often started 6 to 12 months later than for parents of nonretarded children.