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The Importance of Temperament for Understanding Early Manifestations of Autism Spectrum Disorder in High-Risk Infants

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Abstract

The present study investigated the relationship between infant temperament characteristics and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) risk status. Temperament was examined at 6, 12, and 24 months in 282 infants at high familial risk for ASD and 114 low-risk controls using the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised and Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire. Infants were divided into three groups at 24 months: High-Risk Positive—classified as ASD (HR Pos), High-Risk Negative (HR Neg), and Low-Risk Negative (LR Neg). At 6 and 12 months HR Pos infants exhibited lower Surgency and Regulatory Capacity than LR Neg infants. By 12 months they also demonstrated increased Negative Affect. Group differences remained, when early signs of ASD were controlled for, suggesting that temperament differences could be useful targets for understanding the development of ASD.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by Grants from NIH/NIHCD (R01-HD055741, HD055741-S1) Autism Speaks, and the Simons Foundation to J. Piven and K01-MH101653 to J. Wolff. We sincerely thank our IBIS families for participating in this research. We are grateful to Robert Emerson for helpful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript.

* IBIS Network: The IBIS (Infant Brain Imaging Study) Network is an NIH funded Autism Centers of Excellence project and consists of a consortium of 8 Universities in the U.S. and Canada. Clinical Sites: University of North Carolina: J. Piven (IBIS Network PI), H.C. Hazlett, C. Chappell; University of Washington: S. Dager, A. Estes, D. Shaw; Washington University: K. N. Botteron, R. C. McKinstry, J. Constantino, J. Pruett; Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia: R. T. Schultz, S. Paterson; University of Alberta: L. Zwaigenbaum; University of Minnesota: J. Elison. Data Coordinating Center: Montreal Neurological Institute: A.C. Evans, D. L. Collins, G. B. Pike, V. Fonov, P. Kostopoulos, S. Das. Image Processing Core: New York University: G. Gerig; University of North Carolina: M. Styner. Statistical Analysis Core: University of North Carolina: H. Gu.

Funding

This study was funded by National Institutes of Health (R01-HD 055741, R01-HD055741-S1, K01-MH101653) and the Simons Foundation (SFARI Grant 140209) and Autism Speaks.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Sarah J. Paterson

  2. Center for Autism Research, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Juhi Pandey & Robert T. Schultz

  3. Department of Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Jason J. Wolff

  4. Institute of Child Development & Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Jed T. Elison

  5. The MIND Institute, UC Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA

    Breanna Winder-Patel

  6. Department of Pediatrics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

    Lonnie Zwaigenbaum

  7. Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Annette Estes

  8. Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO, USA

    Kelly Botteron

  9. Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Stephen R. Dager

  10. The Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Heather C. Hazlett & Joseph Piven

  11. Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Heather C. Hazlett & Joseph Piven

  12. Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Juhi Pandey & Robert T. Schultz

Authors
  1. Sarah J. Paterson
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  2. Jason J. Wolff
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Consortia

the IBIS Network

  • J. Piven
  • , H. C. Hazlett
  • , C. Chappell
  • , S. Dager
  • , A. Estes
  • , D. Shaw
  • , K. N. Botteron
  • , R. C. McKinstry
  • , J. Constantino
  • , J. Pruett
  • , R. T. Schultz
  • , S. Paterson
  • , L. Zwaigenbaum
  • , J. Elison
  • , A. C. Evans
  • , D. L. Collins
  • , G. B. Pike
  • , V. Fonov
  • , P. Kostopoulos
  • , S. Das
  • , G. Gerig
  • , M. Styner
  •  & H. Gu

Contributions

SJP, AE, LZ, RTS, JP, HCH, SRD, KB, JJW, JTE and JPn, contributed to the concept and design of the study, provided feedback, and reviewed the manuscript. SJP and JJW performed statistical analyses and interpreted the data. SJP, JJW, JTE, BWP, and JPn contributed to drafting and revising of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Sarah J. Paterson.

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All authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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The members of the IBIS Network group are listed in the acknowledgements.

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Paterson, S.J., Wolff, J.J., Elison, J.T. et al. The Importance of Temperament for Understanding Early Manifestations of Autism Spectrum Disorder in High-Risk Infants. J Autism Dev Disord 49, 2849–2863 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04003-2

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