Cataloguing and characterizing interests in typically developing toddlers and toddlers who develop ASD

Area of Science:

• Child Psychology
• Developmental Neuroscience
• Autism Spectrum Disorder Research

Background:

• Intense interests are frequently observed in children, both with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
• Limited research has explored shared and unique aspects of interests between children with and without ASD.
• Understanding these interests is crucial for identifying early indicators and characteristics of ASD.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize the intensity and peculiarity of interests in infants at high-familial-risk (HR) and low-familial-risk (LR) for ASD.
• To investigate how familial risk and ASD diagnosis influence interest characteristics in early childhood.
• To evaluate a novel interview tool for assessing interests in toddlers.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the Intense Interests Inventory, a semi-structured interview, to collect data at 18 and 24 months of age.
• Assessed three groups: HR siblings diagnosed with ASD (HR-ASD), HR siblings without ASD (HR-Neg), and a LR comparison group.
• Analyzed data to compare intensity and peculiarity of interests across groups based on familial risk and ASD diagnosis.

Main Results:

• At 24 months, both HR-ASD and HR-Neg groups showed higher interest intensity than the LR group, indicating familial risk's impact.
• The HR-ASD group exhibited more peculiar interests than HR-Neg and LR groups at 24 months, highlighting diagnostic specificity.
• At 18 months, the HR-ASD group had more peculiar interests than the LR group, suggesting early differences.
• Males in the non-ASD sample showed more intense interests at 18 months, replicating prior findings.

Conclusions:

• Familial risk for ASD is associated with increased intensity of interests, even in the absence of a diagnosis.
• Peculiarity of interests emerges as a key differentiator for ASD diagnosis in early development.
• The Intense Interests Inventory shows promise as a tool for identifying clinically relevant features of interests in young children with ASD.
• These findings offer insights into the early autism phenotype and the nature of preoccupations in at-risk children.