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The Role of Sensory Modulation Deficits and Behavioral Symptoms in a Diagnosis for Early Childhood

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Abstract

To contribute to the validation of the sensory and behavioral criteria for Regulation Disorders of Sensory Processing (RDSP) (DC:0-3R, 2005), this study examined a sample of toddlers in a clinical setting to analyze: (1) the severity of sensory modulation deficits and the behavioral symptoms of RDSP; (2) the associations between sensory and behavioral symptoms; and (3) the specific role of sensory modulation deficits in an RDSP diagnosis. Based on clinical observations, 78 toddlers were classified into two groups: toddlers with RDSP (N = 18) and those with “other diagnoses in Axis I/II of the DC:0-3R” (OD3R; N = 60). The parents completed the Infant Toddler Sensory Profile and the Achenbach Checklist. The results revealed that the RDSP group had more severe sensory modulation deficits and specific behavioral symptoms; stronger, although not significant, associations between most sensory and behavioral symptoms; and a significant sensory modulation deficit effect. These findings support the validity of RDSP.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported in part by grant SFRH/BD/38992/2007 from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education, POCI 2010 and an European Social Grant. The authors gratefully acknowledge the clinical team of UPI of CHCL-Hospital Dona Estefânia for their participation and implementation of the research protocol, Marta Alves MSc, from the Epidemiology and Statistics Office of the Research Unit of CHCL, and the parents of the child who participate in this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departament of Clinical and Health Psychology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain

    Ruth Pérez-Robles & Ma Claustre Jané

  2. Departament of Psychobiology and Methodology of Health Sciences, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Eduardo Doval

  3. Infancy and Early Childhood Unit, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, CHLC-Hospital Dona Estefânia, Lisbon, Portugal

    Ruth Pérez-Robles & Pedro Caldeira da Silva

  4. Research Center of CHLC-Hospital Dona Estefânia, Lisbon, Portugal

    Ana Luisa Papoila & Daniel Virella

Authors
  1. Ruth Pérez-Robles
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  2. Eduardo Doval
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  3. Ma Claustre Jané
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  4. Pedro Caldeira da Silva
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Correspondence to Ruth Pérez-Robles.

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Pérez-Robles, R., Doval, E., Jané, M.C. et al. The Role of Sensory Modulation Deficits and Behavioral Symptoms in a Diagnosis for Early Childhood. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 44, 400–411 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-012-0334-x

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