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Behavioural Measures of Infant Activity but Not Attention Associate with Later Preschool ADHD Traits

Amy Goodwin1, Alexandra Hendry2, Luke Mason3

  • 1Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London SE5 8AF, UK.

Brain Sciences
|April 30, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Infant activity levels, not attention, may predict later ADHD traits. Early behavioral differences in activity may signal future attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) risk in children.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental neuroscience
  • Child psychology
  • Behavioral pediatrics

Background:

  • Early identification of neurocognitive differences is crucial for timely interventions in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
  • Understanding infant precursors to ADHD can inform early risk assessment and support.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine group differences in infant attention and activity levels based on family history of ADHD or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
  • To investigate the longitudinal relationship between infant behavioral measures and preschool ADHD traits.

Main Methods:

  • Assessed 151 infants at 10 months using multi-method approaches (behavioral, cognitive, physiological, neural) for attention and activity.
  • Measured preschool ADHD traits at 3 years using the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) and Child Behaviour Questionnaire (CBQ).

Main Results:

  • No significant group differences in infant attention or activity were found between infants with and without a family history of ADHD or ASD.
  • Infant activity level, as rated by parents and observers, positively correlated with preschool ADHD traits at 3 years.

Conclusions:

  • Observable differences in infant activity levels, but not attention, may be early indicators for later ADHD traits.
  • While group differences were not significant at 10 months, individual infant activity levels show predictive value for later ADHD symptomatology.

Keywords:
ADHDactivity levelattentioninfant

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