Cascading effects of attention disengagement and sensory seeking on social symptoms in a community sample of infants at-risk for a future diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

Recent work suggests sensory seeking predicts later social symptomatology through reduced social orienting in infants who are at high-risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) based on their status as younger siblings of children diagnosed with ASD. We drew on extant longitudinal data from a community sample of at-risk infants who were identified at 12 months using the First Year Inventory, and followed to 3-5 years. We replicate findings of Damiano et al. (in this issue) that a) high-risk infants who go on to be diagnosed with ASD show heightened sensory seeking in the second year of life relative to those who do not receive a diagnosis, and b) increased sensory seeking indirectly relates to later social symptomatology via reduced social orienting. We extend previous findings to show that sensory seeking has more clinical utility later in the second year of life (20-24 months) than earlier (13-15 months). Further, this study suggests that diminished attention disengagement at 12-15 months may precede and predict increased sensory seeking at 20-24 months. Findings add support for the notion that sensory features produce cascading effects on social development in infants at risk for ASD, and suggest that reduced attention disengagement early in life may set off this cascade.

Keywords: Attention; Autism; Infants; Longitudinal; Risk markers; Sensory features; Social.

Graphical abstract

Fig. A1

Indirect effect of sensory seeking as measured later in the second year of life (i.e., 20–24 months) on future social symptom severity through social orienting in a community sample of infants at heightened, non-familial risk for autism spectrum disorder. a = the relation between sensory seeking and social orienting, not controlling for any other factors. b = the relation between social orienting and future social symptom severity, controlling for sensory seeking. c’ = the direct effect of sensory seeking on social symptom severity (i.e., the c’ path), controlling for social orienting. Values provided for a, b, and c’ paths are standardized coefficients. * p < 0.05. ** p < 0.01.

Fig. A2

Differences in sensory seeking across the second year of life for high-risk infants according to diagnostic outcome. HR-No ASD = High-risk infants from a community sample who did not go on to receive a diagnosis of ASD (black line). HR-ASD = High-risk infants from a community sample who did go on to receive a diagnosis of ASD (gray line). Outcome group differences in sensory seeking were non-significant at Time 1 assessments, when infants were 13–15 months old, but significant by Time 2 assessments, when participants were 20–24 months old. Error bars represent standard error of the mean.

Fig. A3

Deficits in attention disengagement as measured earlier in the second year of life (i.e., 12–15 months) predict future sensory seeking and translate to reduced social orienting in a community sample of infants at heightened, non-familial risk for ASD. a = the relation between attention disengagement and sensory seeking, not controlling for any other factors. b = the relation between sensory seeking and social orienting, controlling for attention disengagement. c’ = the direct effect of attention disengagement on social orienting (i.e., the c’ path), controlling for sensory seeking. Values provided for a, b, and c’ paths are standardized coefficients. * p < 0.05. ** p < 0.01. ns = non-significant result.