Children's total blindness as a risk factor for early parent-child relationships: preliminary findings from an Italian sample.

These preliminary results suggest that the complete absence of vision from birth has adverse effects on stress linked to parenting and parental perceived social support. These findings support the importance of early family-centered interventions that extend to the parents' communities and facilitate the parent-child dyad's communication through non-visual behaviors. Replication is warranted in larger and more diverse samples.