Abstract Early parent-child interactions (PCI) impact social cognitive development. Relatedly, children with various developmental disorders exhibit abnormal parental attachment relationships. Parental characteristics and behaviors can impact PCI and socioemotional development as well. No research has examined the parent-child dynamic in Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS), a neurodevelopmental disorder that presents with social cognitive deficits. This article provides a preliminary characterization of PCI quality and parenting stress in 17 PWS parent-child dyads, children ages 3–5 years, in comparison to 20 typically developing children and their parent. Results suggest early PCI disruption in preschoolers with PWS and their parents report increased levels of stress in various domains. These findings have important implications not only on parent well-being in PWS but its impact on child development.
Abstract Research has shown that children with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) have social-cognitive challenges and decreased quality parent-child interactions. However, given the low prevalence rate, developing interventions for children with PWS is faced with the significant challenge of enrolling enough participants for local studies. To better understand the feasibility and acceptability of telehealth, the current study delivered a 6-week remote parent training intervention to 15 primary caregivers of a child with PWS (ages 3-6). Behavioral Intervention Rating Scale results indicate good acceptability (5.64/6.00) and satisfaction (4.75/5.00) with the intervention. These results are one of the first to support the use of telehealth in conducting parent training in rare disorders, such as PWS.
Oxytocin (OXT) has been implicated in the social difficulties evidenced in autism. Given this, the current study characterized OXT concentration levels and social cognition in preschoolers, ages 3-5, with either ASD (n=18) or typical development (TD; n=21). The two samples did not differ in OXT concentration levels, however, children with ASD had significantly lower social cognitive ability. Within the TD sample, sad emotion recognition was the largest significant predictor of OXT levels. Within the ASD sample, aggressive interpersonal acts in play accounted for the largest variance in predicting OXT concentration. Results do not support the “OXT deficit hypothesis” in ASD but suggest that oxytocin may have unique relationships with social cognition across diagnostic categories.
