Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence for parent training in young children with autism symptoms and excessive screen-time

Saeid Sadeghi; Hamidreza Pouretemad; Reza Khosrowabadi; Jalil Fathabadi; Sedighe Nikbakht

doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2019.08.003

Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence for parent training in young children with autism symptoms and excessive screen-time

Asian J Psychiatr. 2019 Oct:45:7-12. doi: 10.1016/j.ajp.2019.08.003. Epub 2019 Aug 5.

Authors

Saeid Sadeghi¹, Hamidreza Pouretemad², Reza Khosrowabadi³, Jalil Fathabadi⁴, Sedighe Nikbakht⁵

Affiliations

¹ Dept. of Clinical & Health Psychology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: sae_sadeghi@sbu.ac.ir.
² Dept. of Clinical & Health Psychology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran; Institute for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: h-pouretemad@sbu.ac.ir.
³ Institute for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: r.khosrowabadi@gmail.com.
⁴ Department of Educational and Developmental Psychology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: fathabadi51@gmail.com.
⁵ Department of Pediatric Neurology, Children's Medical Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: sedighenikbakht@yahoo.com.

PMID: 31430692
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajp.2019.08.003

Abstract

Recent studies have shown the relationship between excessive screen time and autism symptoms. Unfortunately, there are no studies that evaluated the interventions for children with autism symptoms and excessive screen-time. This paper is a preliminary attempt to examine the effects of parent training on the duration of screen-time, repetitive behaviors and brain electrophysiological characteristics in young children with subthreshold autism symptoms and excessive screen time. Results showed that after the 2 months' parent-child interaction, children's screen-time and repetitive behaviors decreased and EEG ratio power in some channels changed. Our findings suggest that parent training have positive effects on young children with excessive screen-time and autism symptoms.

Keywords: Autism symptoms; EEG; Excessive screen time; Parent training.

MeSH terms

Adult
Autistic Disorder / physiopathology
Autistic Disorder / prevention & control
Autistic Disorder / psychology*
Brain / physiopathology
Child, Preschool
Electroencephalography
Female
Humans
Male
Parent-Child Relations
Parents / education*
Screen Time*