Infant avoidance during a tactile task predicts autism spectrum behaviors in toddlerhood

This study measured 9‐month‐old infants’ (N = 561; 58% male) avoidance and negative affect during a novel tactile task in which parents painted infants’ hands and feet and pressed them to paper to make a picture. Parent reports on the Pervasive Developmental Problems (PDP), Internalizing, and Externalizing scales of the Child Behavior Checklist were used to measure toddler behaviors at 18 months. Infant observed avoidance and negative affect were significantly correlated; however, avoidance predicted subsequent PDP scores only, independent of negative affect, which did not predict any toddler behaviors. Findings suggest that incorporating measures of responses to touch in the study of early social interaction may provide an important and discriminating construct for identifying children at greater risk for social impairments related to autism spectrum behaviors. RESUMEN La experiencia del tacto es crítica en la temprana comunicación e interacción social; los infantes que muestran aversión al tacto pudieran estar bajo riesgo de un desarrollo atípico y problemas de conducta. El presente estudio se propuso como meta clarificar las asociaciones de predicción entre las respuestas del infante a las manifestaciones de estímulo táctil y la gama de autismo de los niños pequeños, así como las conductas de internalizar y externalizar. Este estudio midió la tendencia a evitar y el afecto negativo de infantes de 9 meses de edad (N = 561; 58% varones) durante una nov...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - Category: Child Development Authors: Tags: ARTICLE Source Type: research