The Effectiveness of Parent-child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) on the Relationship between Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Their Families

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy on the relationship between children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their families. The research design was quasi-experimental using a pre-test, post-test method. Twenty-seven 3 to 7-year-old participants (5 females and 22 males) with Autism Spectrum Disorder were selected. The participants were selected through the convenience sampling method, and randomly divided into two groups experimental (n=15) and control (n=12). The experimental group received thirteen 60-minute sessions of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy as a group, twice a week. To assess the effectiveness of the training, the participants completed Pianta Scale (Pianta, 1994) in pre-test and post-test. The data were analyzed using multivariate repeated measures. The results showed that Parent-Child Interaction Therapy decreased the conflict and dependency between children and their mothers. The intervention also increased the closeness in family relationships. Therefore, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) seemed to be effective on the relationship between children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their families.