Latent constructs underlying sensory subtypes in children with autism: A preliminary study.
Brittany N Hand, Simon Dennis, Alison E Lane
PMID 28371523WHAT IT FOUND
Sensory questionnaire scores in children with autism grouped into two patterns: taste/smell and under-responsive/seeking together, and low energy/weak plus auditory filtering.
This preliminary analysis found the pattern in both samples, but did not test treatment.
Key findings
01In the larger sample, the first pattern was strongest for taste/smell sensitivity (absolute link value 2.795), followed by tactile sensitivity (0.892) and under-responsive/seeks sensation (0.828).
02In the larger sample, the second pattern was strongest for low energy/weak (1.645), with links to under-responsive/seeks sensation (1.307), tactile sensitivity (1.079), and auditory filtering (1.074).
03In the smaller sample, the same main pattern appeared: taste/smell sensitivity led the first pattern (2.045) and low energy/weak led the second (2.064), but under-responsive/seeks sensation linked less strongly to the second (0.653).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The smaller independent sample had only 59 children, and small samples can make this kind of pattern analysis unstable. The analysis was forced to find two patterns, so other possible numbers of underlying patterns were not tested. The children were mostly male, with a male to female ratio of 7 to 1, so the findings may not generalise to females with autism. The questionnaire was analysed by broad domain, not item by item, so under-responsive items and seeking items could not be separated. The Short Sensory Profile does not fully measure multisensory integration, so the second pattern may be incomplete. The study did not test whether these patterns identify children who respond to a particular therapy.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that sensory subtypes can guide treatment. It was a preliminary statistical analysis of parent questionnaire scores, not a therapy trial, and the smaller sample had only 59 children.