title: Parent-child interaction and oxytocin production in pre-schoolers with autism spectrum disorder.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with genetic risk on the oxytocin system, suggesting oxytocin involvement in ASD; yet oxytocin functioning in young children with ASD is unknown.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess baseline oxytocin in pre-schoolers with ASD and test whether oxytocin production may be enhanced by parent-child contact.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty pre-schoolers with high-functioning ASD were matched with 40 typically developing controls. Two home visits included an identical 45-minute social battery once with the mother and once with the father. Four saliva oxytocin samples were collected from each parent and the child during each visit.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Children with ASD had lower baseline oxytocin. Following 20 min of parent-child interactions, oxytocin normalised and remained high during social contact. Fifteen minutes after contact, oxytocin fell to baseline. Oxytocin correlated with parent-child social synchrony in both groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Oxytocin dysfunction in ASD is observed in early childhood. The quick improvement in oxytocin production following parent-child contact underscores the malleability of the system and charts future directions for attachment-based behavioural and pharmacological interventions.
authors.affiliation: Ruth Feldman, PhD, Ofer Golan, PhD, Yael Hirschler-Guttenberg, MA, Sharon Ostfeld-Etzion, MA, Orna Zagoory-Sharon, PhD, Department of Psychology and the Gonda Brain Sciences Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Feldman
authors.affiliation: Ruth Feldman, PhD, Ofer Golan, PhD, Yael Hirschler-Guttenberg, MA, Sharon Ostfeld-Etzion, MA, Orna Zagoory-Sharon, PhD, Department of Psychology and the Gonda Brain Sciences Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Ofer
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Golan
authors.affiliation: Ruth Feldman, PhD, Ofer Golan, PhD, Yael Hirschler-Guttenberg, MA, Sharon Ostfeld-Etzion, MA, Orna Zagoory-Sharon, PhD, Department of Psychology and the Gonda Brain Sciences Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Yael
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hirschler-Guttenberg
authors.affiliation: Ruth Feldman, PhD, Ofer Golan, PhD, Yael Hirschler-Guttenberg, MA, Sharon Ostfeld-Etzion, MA, Orna Zagoory-Sharon, PhD, Department of Psychology and the Gonda Brain Sciences Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ostfeld-Etzion
authors.affiliation: Ruth Feldman, PhD, Ofer Golan, PhD, Yael Hirschler-Guttenberg, MA, Sharon Ostfeld-Etzion, MA, Orna Zagoory-Sharon, PhD, Department of Psychology and the Gonda Brain Sciences Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Orna
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Zagoory-Sharon
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000378:metabolism*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010121:Oxytocin / Q000378:metabolism*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry*; D012919:Social Behavior
chemical_list: D010121:Oxytocin