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A Parent-Mediated Intervention That Targets Responsive Parental Behaviors Increases Attachment Behaviors in Children with ASD: Results from a Randomized Clinical Trial

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Abstract

The current study is a randomized clinical trial evaluating the efficacy of Focused Playtime Intervention (FPI) in a sample of 70 children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. This parent-mediated intervention has previously been shown to significantly increase responsive parental communication (Siller et al. in J Autism Dev Disord 43:540–555, 2013a). The current analyses focus on children’s attachment related outcomes. Results revealed that children who were randomly assigned to FPI showed bigger increases in attachment-related behaviors, compared to children assigned to the control condition. Significant treatment effects of FPI were found for both an observational measure of attachment-related behaviors elicited during a brief separation-reunion episode and a questionnaire measure evaluating parental perceptions of child attachment. The theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

The authors extend a special thanks to the families that participated in this study. We also wish to thank the researchers who contributed to this project over the years, especially Amanda Chinchilla and Elia Jimenez. Special Thanks to David Oppenheim and Nina Koren-Karie for their invaluable support and feedback on drafts of this manuscript. Support from this research include: CPEA Grant HD-DCD35470 and the M.I.N.D. Institute Research Program.

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Author notes

  1. Meghan Swanson

    Present address: The Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

  2. Alan Gerber

    Present address: The Rhode Island Consortium for Autism Research and Treatment, Bradley Hospital, Providence, RI, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90024, USA

    Michael Siller, Ted Hutman & Marian Sigman

  2. Psychology Department, Hunter College, The City University of New York, RM 611 HN, 695 Park Ave, New York, NY, 10065-5024, USA

    Michael Siller, Meghan Swanson & Alan Gerber

Authors
  1. Michael Siller
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  2. Meghan Swanson
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  4. Ted Hutman
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  5. Marian Sigman
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Correspondence to Michael Siller.

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Siller, M., Swanson, M., Gerber, A. et al. A Parent-Mediated Intervention That Targets Responsive Parental Behaviors Increases Attachment Behaviors in Children with ASD: Results from a Randomized Clinical Trial. J Autism Dev Disord 44, 1720–1732 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-014-2049-2

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