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Parent-Reported Temperament Trajectories Among Infant Siblings of Children with Autism

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Abstract

Temperament atypicalities have been documented in infancy and early development in children who develop autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The current study investigates whether there are differences in developmental trajectories of temperament between infants and toddlers with and without ASD. Parents of infant siblings of children with autism completed the Carey Temperament Scales about their child at 6, 12, 18, 24, and 36 months of age. Temperament trajectories of children with ASD reflected increases over time in activity level, and decreasing adaptability and approach behaviors relative to high-risk typically developing (TD) children. This study is the first to compare temperament trajectories between high-risk TD infants and infants subsequently diagnosed with ASD in the developmental window when overt symptoms of ASD first emerge.

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Acknowledgments

We are deeply grateful to all the families who participated in this study, the research assistants who worked hard to collect and prepare the data, and Philip Ender, Joni Ricks, and Andy Lin at UCLA Statistical Consulting. The work that led to this article was supported by the following grants: NIMH U54-MH-068172 (Sigman, PI); NICHD 1P50-HD-55784 (Sigman, Bookheimer, PIs); NICHD R01-HD40432 (Johnson, PI).

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Correspondence to Ted Hutman.

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del Rosario, M., Gillespie-Lynch, K., Johnson, S. et al. Parent-Reported Temperament Trajectories Among Infant Siblings of Children with Autism. J Autism Dev Disord 44, 381–393 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-013-1876-x

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