Developmental Skills Moderate the Association Between Core Autism Features and Adaptive Behaviour in Early Childhood.
Daniel Berends, Catherine A Bent, Giacomo Vivanti and 2 others
PMID 37142900WHAT IT FOUND
The link between social autism features and adaptive behaviour was not clearly changed by developmental skills.
Developmental skills were more strongly linked to adaptive behaviour than social features were. Social features were linked only when developmental quotient was 48.33 or lower.
Key findings
01Developmental skills at the first assessment were associated with adaptive behaviour about one year later even after accounting for social autism features, whereas social autism features were not significantly associated after accounting for developmental skills.
02The overall test for moderation by developmental skills was not significant, but follow-up testing found social autism features were linked to adaptive behaviour only for children whose developmental quotient was 48.33 or lower.
03For children with a developmental quotient above 48.33, social autism features were not significantly associated with later adaptive behaviour.
STILL TO COME
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What it does not show
All children were receiving Group-based Early Start Denver Model at a university-affiliated community service, so the results may not apply to autistic children with fewer early difficulties or different supports. The follow-up interval varied from 3 to 44 months, so the study is not a fixed one-year follow-up for every child. The final sample analysed 162 of 221 children; 59 children were excluded for missing data, and the retained group was younger and more often from multiplex families. The study was underpowered for the overall moderation effect across the full range of developmental skills; the paper says 395 children would be needed to detect it with at least 80% power. The analysis used a global adaptive behaviour score, not separate communication, daily living, social or motor domains, so it cannot show which functional areas are affected. The study is observational, so it cannot prove that developmental skills cause better adaptive behaviour or that social autism features cause worse adaptive behaviour. Adaptive behaviour was parent-reported, while social autism features and developmental skills were direct assessments, which may affect associations.
Declared interests
La Trobe University funded the work. The supplied text does not report additional author conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that reducing social autism features improves adaptive behaviour. The study is observational, the overall moderation finding was not significant, and all children were receiving Group-based Early Start Denver Model, so no treatment effect was tested.