Parent–infant interaction in infant siblings at risk of autism

Abstract

Recent models of the early emergence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) propose an interaction between risk susceptibility and the infant's social environment, resulting in a progressively atypical developmental trajectory. The infant's early social environmental experience consists mostly of interaction with caregivers, yet there has been little systematic study of early parent-infant interaction in infants at risk of ASD. This study examined the global characteristics of parent-infant interaction in 6- to 10-month-old infants with an older sibling diagnosed with ASD (at-risk sibs), in comparison with a group of infants with no family history of ASD (low-risk sibs). As part of the British Autism Study of Infant Siblings (BASIS), 6-min videotaped unstructured play interactions of mother-infant dyads (45 at-risk sibs and 47 low-risk sibs) were rated on global aspects of parent-infant interaction, blind to participant information. Differences in global characteristics of interaction were observed in both infant and parent contributions in the at-risk group compared to low-risk controls. In analyses adjusted for age and developmental level, at-risk sib infants were less lively, and their parents showed higher directiveness, and lower sensitive responding (as a trend after adjustment). Level of infant liveliness was independent of other interactive behaviour. Consistent with reports in previous literature in older children with autism and in other neurodevelopmental disorders, our findings may suggest that infants at genetic risk are exposed to a more directive interactive style relatively early in infancy. We discuss possible explanations for these findings and implications for further developmental study and intervention.

Music therapy microanalysis of parent-infant interaction in a three-month-old infant later diagnosed with autism

“…More recently, we have observed how this interactive style is part of a more general deficiency in interactive reciprocity characterized by reduced motor activity, fewer vocalizations, asynchronous vocal-motor patterns in the child, and less involvement and less use of 'affectionate touch' in the parents . Our results are in line with other recent studies on siblings of children already diagnosed (Wan et al, 2012), and could have important repercussions regarding the role that has been attributed to parent-mediated treatments, which are aimed at enhancing supportive interactions in everyday life (Oono, Honey, & McConachie, 2013).…”

Natural variation in maternal sensitivity is reflected in maternal brain responses to infant stimuli.

“…Manchester Assessment of Caregiver-Infant Interaction (MACI) (Wan et al, 2012(Wan et al, , 2016 This validated rating scale measure of global qualities of parent-infant interaction is suitable for 3-15 months of age and was designed to measure seven key areas on a 1 to 7 scale based on 6 minutes of videotaped unstructured play (Wan et al, 2016). A trained coder, who has undergone >70 hours training and supervised coding practice, rated the videotaped interactions following detailed reviews and narrative notes of the play episode, blind to family information and study aims.…”

“…Atzil et al, 2011;Strathearn et al, 2009;. Secondly, selection of the HSMs and LSMs was initially determined by taking ratings of 1+ above the SD (ratings 5-7), and 1+ below the SD (ratings 1-2) (Wan et al, 2012). However, as this did not provide, the required number of 15 in each group the thresholds were increased, but with no overlap.…”

Risk Factors Associated With Language in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Clues to Underlying Mechanisms

“…They found that the mothers had less emotionally synchronized interactions with their infants compared with mothers in the control group; however, there was no significant impact of these subtle differences in interaction style on later language development, assessed when the infants were 14 months old. Wan et al (2012Wan et al ( , 2013 have reported that caregivers of high-risk infants were rated as more directive and less sensitive during play interactions with their 6-and 12-month-old infants compared with caregivers of low-risk infants. In these studies, the influence of caregiver-infant interactions on child language were not reported, only the relationship to later diagnoses of ASD.…”