Dataset Information

Early infant behavioural correlates of social skills in adolescents.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder typically diagnosed after the second year of life; however, differences in brain structure and function associated with ASD have been ascertained in early infancy. Identifying behavioural markers of ASD risk in early infancy has the potential to facilitate early detection and intervention.

Objectives

We examined associations between infant behaviour and adolescent behaviours associated with ASD.

Methods

Analyses leveraged data available on 370 participants from the New Bedford Cohort, a sociodemographically diverse prospective birth cohort of children born from 1993 to 1998 to mothers residing near the New Bedford Harbor Superfund site in Massachusetts. Longitudinal assessments were used to examine the associations between behaviours when children were approximately 2 weeks old (measured by the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale [NBAS]), and subsequent maladaptive behaviours associated with ASD at approximately 15 years old [measured by the Behavior Assessment System for Children, 2nd Edition-Teacher Rating Scale (BASC-2 TRS) scores which are standardised to a mean (SD) of 50 (10)].

Results

Poorer performance on select individual items and cluster scales of the NBAS was associated with an increase in behaviours associated with ASD in adolescents. Associations were strongest for neonatal measures of self-regulation, response to auditory input, and autonomic nervous system regulation. For example, in covariate-adjusted models, infants with Regulation of State NBAS cluster scores in the lowest tertile (poorest performance) compared to infants with scores in the higher two tertiles had adolescent BASC-2 TRS Developmental Social Disorders T-scores that were 2.9 points higher (95% CI: 0.8, 4.9), indicating more behaviours associated with ASD.

Conclusion

The NBAS is an established and accessible instrument that assesses a broad range of behaviours in very young infants, and may be a useful tool for newborn assessments of developmental risk, including risk of ASD-associated behaviours.

SUBMITTER: Shoaff JR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7878285 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Early infant behavioural correlates of social skills in adolescents.

Shoaff Jessica R JR Nugent Kevin K Brazelton Thomas Berry TB Korrick Susan A SA

Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology 20200919 2

<h4>Background</h4>Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder typically diagnosed after the second year of life; however, differences in brain structure and function associated with ASD have been ascertained in early infancy. Identifying behavioural markers of ASD risk in early infancy has the potential to facilitate early detection and intervention.<h4>Objectives</h4>We examined associations between infant behaviour and adolescent behaviours associated with ASD.<h4>Methods< ...[more]

PMID: 32949469

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Project description:BackgroundSeventy percent of premature deaths in adults are due to behaviors initiated during adolescence. Therefore, it is essential to promote individual and social behaviors that educate adolescents in the ability to make healthy choices. Accordingly, the main goals of this study were to characterize Lifestyles and Social Skills, as well as identify homogeneous subgroups, in a sample of Portuguese adolescents.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted, including 1008 adolescents attending the 7th to the 9th grades of five middle schools from the Tâmega and Sousa regions of Portugal, and using the My Lifestyle Questionnaire and the Social Skills Inventory. To establish a profile of the participants, a Cluster Analysis (K-means) was performed, and the Jaccard coefficient was used to assess the stability of the solution found.ResultsFrom the total sample, 556 adolescents with a mean age of 13.43 years (SD = 1.1) were included in the analysis. The majority of the sample presented a healthy lifestyle (72.26%) and 50.7% of the adolescents had a highly elaborated repertoire of Social Skills. Moreover, three clusters were found. Cluster 1 (n = 92) showed a less elaborate repertoire of Social Skills and was designated as the "Adjusted". Cluster 2 (n = 115) comprised adolescents with a good repertoire of Social Skills and was named the "Sociable". Cluster 3 (n = 258) was composed of adolescents with a highly elaborate repertoire of Social Skills and the best Lifestyle indicators and was named the "Healthy".ConclusionsThe group of adolescents in the cluster called the "Sociable" needs to be included in health education and Social Skills programs. Nutrition and Monitored Safety behaviors reveal low values and, therefore, present a greater need for awareness, sensitization, and intervention in the school context. For this reason, the promotion of a healthy lifestyle should be part of the academic curriculum and transversal to all academic disciplines.

Dataset Information

Early infant behavioural correlates of social skills in adolescents.

Background

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Early infant behavioural correlates of social skills in adolescents.

Similar Datasets

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