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. 2019 Jan;128(1):69-80.
doi: 10.1037/abn0000390.

Early motor abilities in infants at heightened versus low risk for ASD: A Baby Siblings Research Consortium (BSRC) study

Jana M Iverson  1 , Frederick Shic  2 , Carla A Wall  3 , Katarzyna Chawarska  4 , Suzanne Curtin  5 , Annette Estes  6 , Judith M Gardner  7 , Ted Hutman  8 , Rebecca J Landa  9 , April R Levin  10 , Klaus Libertus  1 , Daniel S Messinger  11 , Charles A Nelson  12 , Sally Ozonoff  13 , Lori-Ann R Sacrey  14 , Kelly Sheperd  15 , Wendy L Stone  16 , Helen B Tager-Flusberg  17 , Jason J Wolff  18 , Nurit Yirmiya  19 , Gregory S Young  13
Affiliations

Early motor abilities in infants at heightened versus low risk for ASD: A Baby Siblings Research Consortium (BSRC) study

Jana M Iverson et al. J Abnorm Psychol. 2019 Jan.

Abstract

Research has identified early appearing differences in gross and fine motor abilities in infants at heightened risk (HR) for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) because they are the younger siblings of children with ASD, and it suggests that such differences may be especially apparent among those HR infants themselves eventually diagnosed with ASD. The present study examined overall and item-level performance on the gross (GM) and fine motor (FM) subscales of the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL) administered at 6 months to a large, geographically diverse sample of HR infants with varying developmental outcomes (ASD, elevated ADOS without ASD, low ADOS without ASD) and to infants with low ASD risk (low risk [LR]). We also explored whether motor abilities assessed at 6 months predicted ASD symptom severity at 36 months. FM (but not GM) performance distinguished all 3 HR groups from LR infants with the weakest performance observed in the HR-Elevated ADOS children, who exhibited multiple differences from both LR and other HR infants in both gross and fine motor skills. Finally, 6-month FM (but not GM) scores significant predicted 36-month ADOS severity scores in the HR group; but no evidence was found of specific early appearing motor signs associated with a later ASD diagnosis. Vulnerabilities in infants' fine and gross motor skills may have significant consequences for later development not only in the motor domain but in other domains. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Failure rates on the Gross Motor subscale for LR, HR-LA, HR-EA, and HR-ASD infants at 6 months of age.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Failure rates on the Fine Motor subscale for LR, HR-LA, HR-EA, and HR-ASD infants at 6 months of age.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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