Caregiver broader autism phenotype does not moderate the effect of early caregiver-mediated support on infant language outcomes

Erin O'Connor; Karli Treyvaud; Cherie C Green; Jonathan Green; Teresa Iacono; Murray Maybery; Leonie Segal; Vicky Slonims; Kandice J Varcin; Ming Wai Wan; Andrew Whitehouse; Kristelle Hudry

doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2025.102093

Caregiver broader autism phenotype does not moderate the effect of early caregiver-mediated support on infant language outcomes

Infant Behav Dev. 2025 Jun 19:80:102093. doi: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2025.102093. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology and Counselling, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC, Australia. Electronic address: e.oconnor@latrobe.edu.au.
² Department of Psychology and Counselling, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC, Australia. Electronic address: k.treyvaud@latrobe.edu.au.
³ Department of Psychology and Counselling, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC, Australia. Electronic address: c.green@latrobe.edu.au.
⁴ Division of Psychology and Mental Health, School of Health Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK; Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK. Electronic address: jonathan.green@manchester.ac.uk.
⁵ Living with Disability Research Centre, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC, Australia. Electronic address: t.iacono@latrobe.edu.au.
⁶ School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia. Electronic address: murray.maybery@uwa.edu.au.
⁷ Health Economics and Social Policy, University of South Australia, SA, Australia. Electronic address: leonie.segal@unisa.edu.au.
⁸ Children's Neurosciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Evelina London Children's Hospital, Kings College London, London, UK. Electronic address: vicky.slonims@gstt.nhs.uk.
⁹ CliniKids, The Kids Research Institute Australia, Subiaco, WA, Australia; School of Health Sciences & Social Work, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia. Electronic address: k.varcin@griffith.edu.au.
¹⁰ Division of Psychology and Mental Health, School of Health Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK. Electronic address: m.w.wan@manchester.ac.uk.
¹¹ CliniKids, The Kids Research Institute Australia, Subiaco, WA, Australia; University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia. Electronic address: andrew.whitehouse@thekids.org.au.
¹² Department of Psychology and Counselling, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC, Australia. Electronic address: k.hudry@latrobe.edu.au.

PMID: 40540767
DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2025.102093

Abstract

Caregiver-mediated supports in general have shown mixed evidence for enhancing language outcomes in infants at higher likelihood of autism. While caregivers play a substantial role in caregiver-mediated supports, little is known about whether caregivers' own subclinical autistic features - known as broader autism phenotype (BAP) - may moderate infant language outcomes. In secondary analysis of trial data, we examined whether caregiver BAP moderated the effectiveness of the iBASIS caregiver-mediated support program (received when infants were mean aged 12-18 months) for infant language outcomes (measured on parent-reported and direct assessment of receptive and expressive language). While lower caregiver BAP was linked to increased parent-reported infant vocabulary growth in general terms, it did not actually moderate the effect of the caregiver-mediated support program on those infant language outcomes. In relative terms therefore, infants of caregivers with both higher and lower BAP benefited equally from this support on parent-report compared to the comparison group. Caregiver BAP is associated with slower vocabulary growth in infants, but caregivers with autistic features can be recommended for this caregiver-mediated video-feedback based program, as their infants benefitted from such support.

Keywords: Broader autism phenotype; Caregiver-mediated support; Higher likelihood of autism; Language development.