TY - JOUR
T1 - Patterns of objectively measured motor activity among infants developing ASD and concerns for ADHD
AU - Reetzke, Rachel
AU - Iosif, Ana Maria
AU - Hatch, Burt
AU - de la Paz, Leiana
AU - Chuang, Annie
AU - Ozonoff, Sally
AU - Miller, Meghan
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health R00 MH106642 (Miller), R01 MH068398 (Ozonoff), and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center P50 HD103526 (Abbeduto). A‐M.I. was supported in part by the UC Davis Conte Center Biostatistic Core (P50 MH106438). R.R.’s time was supported by the Human Resources Services Agency grant HRSA‐16‐031 through the Northern California Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disorders Program. The authors gratefully acknowledge the families who have participated in their ongoing longitudinal investigation. The authors also thank Dr. Costin Tanase for contributing initial coding syntax for the accelerometer preprocessing pipeline. R.R. has received research grant funding from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation and the Department of Defense‐Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs. A‐M.I. has received honoraria for reviewing activities from Elsevier. S.O. has received research grant funding from the National Institutes of Health and Autism Speaks, travel reimbursement, and honoraria for editorial activities from Autism Speaks, Autism Science Foundation, and Wiley, and book royalties from Guilford Press and American Psychiatric Press, Inc. M.M. has received research grant funding from the National Institutes of Health and travel reimbursement and/or honoraria from the Society for Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology and the Help Group. All other authors report no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest. Key points
Funding Information:
This study was supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health R00 MH106642 (Miller), R01 MH068398 (Ozonoff), and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center P50 HD103526 (Abbeduto). A-M.I. was supported in part by the UC Davis Conte Center Biostatistic Core (P50 MH106438). R.R.’s time was supported by the Human Resources Services Agency grant HRSA-16-031 through the Northern California Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disorders Program. The authors gratefully acknowledge the families who have participated in their ongoing longitudinal investigation. The authors also thank Dr. Costin Tanase for contributing initial coding syntax for the accelerometer preprocessing pipeline. R.R. has received research grant funding from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation and the Department of Defense-Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs. A-M.I. has received honoraria for reviewing activities from Elsevier. S.O. has received research grant funding from the National Institutes of Health and Autism Speaks, travel reimbursement, and honoraria for editorial activities from Autism Speaks, Autism Science Foundation, and Wiley, and book royalties from Guilford Press and American Psychiatric Press, Inc. M.M. has received research grant funding from the National Institutes of Health and travel reimbursement and/or honoraria from the Society for Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology and the Help Group. All other authors report no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.Key points Although it is currently unclear whether increased activity level represents a distinct versus shared early predictor of ASD and ADHD, no study to date has directly examined this prospectively. The current study examined differences in longitudinal patterns of objectively measured activity from 12–36 months of age in a sample enriched for outcomes of ASD and ADHD Concerns across two assessment contexts. Heightened motor activity emerged by 18 months in infants with later ADHD Concerns and ASD; group differences were observed across assessment contexts. From a clinical standpoint, it is important to be aware of potential symptom overlap, as ADHD symptoms present in young children with ASD have been found to delay formal diagnosis and impact treatment outcomes. Although it is currently unclear whether increased activity level represents a distinct versus shared early predictor of ASD and ADHD, no study to date has directly examined this prospectively. The current study examined differences in longitudinal patterns of objectively measured activity from 12–36 months of age in a sample enriched for outcomes of ASD and ADHD Concerns across two assessment contexts. Heightened motor activity emerged by 18 months in infants with later ADHD Concerns and ASD; group differences were observed across assessment contexts. From a clinical standpoint, it is important to be aware of potential symptom overlap, as ADHD symptoms present in young children with ASD have been found to delay formal diagnosis and impact treatment outcomes.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.
PY - 2022/6
Y1 - 2022/6
N2 - Background: Heightened motor activity is a hallmark of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), yet high activity levels are also often reported in young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It is currently unclear whether increased motor activity represents a distinct versus shared early predictor of ASD and ADHD; no prior studies have directly examined this prospectively. We investigated differences in longitudinal patterns of objectively measured motor activity during early development. Methods: Participants included 113 infants at high and low risk for ASD or ADHD. Continuous motion-based activity was recorded using tri-axial accelerometers at 12, 18, 24, and 36 months of age. At 36 months, participants were categorized into one of three outcome groups: ASD (n = 19), ADHD Concerns (n = 17), and Typically Developing (TD; n = 77). Group differences in trajectories of motor activity were examined in structured and semistructured contexts. Associations with behaviors relevant to ASD, ADHD, and general development were also examined. Results: In both structured and semistructured contexts, both the ASD and ADHD Concerns groups exhibited heightened activity relative to the TD group by 18 months; the ASD group exhibited higher activity than the ADHD Concerns group at 24–36 months in the structured context only. Attention/behavior regulation, nonverbal, and verbal development—but not social engagement—were differentially associated with objectively measured activity by outcome group across contexts. Conclusions: Overactivity may be a shared, rather than distinct, precursor of atypical development in infants/toddlers developing ASD and concerns for ADHD, emerging as early as 18 months. Group differences in overactivity may be context-specific and associated with different underlying mechanisms.
AB - Background: Heightened motor activity is a hallmark of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), yet high activity levels are also often reported in young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It is currently unclear whether increased motor activity represents a distinct versus shared early predictor of ASD and ADHD; no prior studies have directly examined this prospectively. We investigated differences in longitudinal patterns of objectively measured motor activity during early development. Methods: Participants included 113 infants at high and low risk for ASD or ADHD. Continuous motion-based activity was recorded using tri-axial accelerometers at 12, 18, 24, and 36 months of age. At 36 months, participants were categorized into one of three outcome groups: ASD (n = 19), ADHD Concerns (n = 17), and Typically Developing (TD; n = 77). Group differences in trajectories of motor activity were examined in structured and semistructured contexts. Associations with behaviors relevant to ASD, ADHD, and general development were also examined. Results: In both structured and semistructured contexts, both the ASD and ADHD Concerns groups exhibited heightened activity relative to the TD group by 18 months; the ASD group exhibited higher activity than the ADHD Concerns group at 24–36 months in the structured context only. Attention/behavior regulation, nonverbal, and verbal development—but not social engagement—were differentially associated with objectively measured activity by outcome group across contexts. Conclusions: Overactivity may be a shared, rather than distinct, precursor of atypical development in infants/toddlers developing ASD and concerns for ADHD, emerging as early as 18 months. Group differences in overactivity may be context-specific and associated with different underlying mechanisms.
KW - Activity level
KW - attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
KW - autism spectrum disorder
KW - infancy
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U2 - 10.1111/jcpp.13504
DO - 10.1111/jcpp.13504
M3 - Article
C2 - 34387359
AN - SCOPUS:85112376145
SN - 0021-9630
VL - 63
SP - 663
EP - 673
JO - Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines
JF - Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines
IS - 6
ER -