LAUSR

Abstract Background By participating in parent-mediated interventions, parents develop skills to promote their toddler’s development. Knowing that the potential mediating role of a parent’s behavior has been poorly assessed, our objective was to measure the effects of a parent-mediated intervention on the developmental outcome of toddlers (12–30 months) at risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and on parent-child interactions. Methods Randomized crossover trial using a 12-week parent-mediated intervention (adapted from the parent delivery of the Early Start Denver Model and the Social Communication Emotion Regulation Transaction Support) and measuring its impact on parent-child dyadic engagement and child development. Results The intervention resulted in improved toddlers’ motor skills (p = .005; ES = .60) and a trend toward improvement in social adaptive behaviors (p = .053; ES = .45) compared to the Waitlist group. There was also a trend toward improved parent-child engagement during the Intervention (p = .010; ES = .77), that did not significantly differ from the change in the Waitlist group (p = .221). Conclusions This study highlights potential benefits in motor and social skills for children at risk of ASD, as well as in parent-child engagement.