title: Brief report: oxytocin enhances paternal sensitivity to a child with autism: a double-blind within-subject experiment with intranasally administered oxytocin.
abstract: Oxytocin seems associated with parenting style, and experimental work showed positive effects of intranasally administered oxytocin on parenting style of fathers. Here, the first double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subject experiment with intranasal oxytocin administration to fathers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is presented. Fathers with their typically developing toddler (n = 18), and fathers of toddlers diagnosed with ASD (n = 14), were observed in two play sessions of 15 min each with an intervening period of 1 week. In all fathers oxytocin elevated the quality of paternal sensitive play: fathers stimulated their child in a more optimal way, and they showed less hostility which suggests the positive effects of oxytocin on paternal sensitive play irrespective of clinical status of their child.
authors.affiliation: Centre of Child and Family Studies, University of Leiden, Leiden, The Netherlands. Fnaber@fsw.leidenuniv.nl
authors.forename: Fabiënne B A
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Naber
authors.forename: Irina E
authors.initials: IE
authors.lastname: Poslawsky
authors.forename: Marinus H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: van Ijzendoorn
authors.forename: Herman
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: van Engeland
authors.forename: Marian J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Bakermans-Kranenburg
mesh_terms: D000281:Administration, Intranasal; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005220:Fathers / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010121:Oxytocin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*
chemical_list: D010121:Oxytocin