Positive Affect in Infant Siblings of Children Dia

Authors: Jillian H Filliter Julie Longard Michael A Lawrence Lonnie Zwaigenbaum Jessica Brian Nancy Garon Isabel M Smith Caroline Roncadin Wendy Roberts Susan E Bryson

Publish Date: 2014/08/13

Volume: 43, Issue: 3, Pages: 567-575

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Abstract

Research on the expression of positive affect in young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder ASD suggests that differences in this domain emerge late in the first year or early in the second year However many previous studies in this area employed retrospective research methods and global rating schemes In the current study the expression of positive affect was examined prospectively at ages 6 12 and 18 months in three groups infant siblings with ASD infant siblings without ASD and lowrisk comparison infants Infant siblings were the younger brothers or sisters of children diagnosed with ASD and therefore had a higher familial risk of ASD The frequency and duration of smiles were coded from video excerpts from the Autism Observation Scale for Infants Bryson Zwaigenbaum McDermott Rombough and Brian 2008 a standardized playbased assessment of early signs of ASD Results indicated that at 12 months infant siblings with ASD had a lower rate of smiling than the other two groups At 18 months infant siblings with ASD continued to display a lower rate of smiling than infant siblings without ASD but not comparison infants Overall these results indicate that infant siblings with ASD demonstrate less positive affect than infant siblings without ASD and lowrisk comparison infants at 12 months This suggests that reduced smiling may be an informative behavioural risk marker for ASD by children’s first birthdays and may have implications for our understanding of atypical social development in children with ASDThis research was supported by grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research CIHR and Autism Speaks Canada During the course of this project Jillian Filliter was supported by funding from the Killam Trusts and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada as well as an Autism Speaks Dennis Weatherstone Predoctoral Fellowship 7427 She was also a trainee of the CIHRfunded Autism Research Training Program Lonnie Zwaigenbaum holds the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation Chair in Autism Research and is supported by an Alberta Innovates Health Solutions Health Scholar Award Isabel Smith holds the Joan and Jack Craig Chair in Autism Research at Dalhousie University Susan Bryson held the Craig Chair during the period in which the study was conducted We would like to thank the Infant Sibling Study and Autism Research Centre staff including Theresa McCormick Jessica Soley Vickie Armstrong Jillian Boyd Megan Fisher and Samantha Chaulk as well as the families who have participated in our infant sibling research for their ongoing dedication to this work

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