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 - 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 -