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Updated: Oct 18, 2025
Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale
Published on: August 25, 2014
Infant's Behaviour Checklist for low birth weight infants and later neurodevelopmental outcome
Hideki Kihara1, Hisako Nakano2, Tomohiko Nakamura3
1Babycastle Corporation, 373-1, Tsubuku-imamachi, Kurume City, Fukuoka, 830-8630, Japan.
Insights
Early infant behavior assessment using the Infant Behaviour Checklist (IBC) can predict neurodevelopmental outcomes. Specific behaviors in low-birth-weight infants correlate with intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Pediatrics
- Neuroscience
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Assessing spontaneous movements and behavior in infancy is crucial for estimating developmental trajectories.
- Low-birth-weight infants are at higher risk for neurodevelopmental challenges.
- The Infant Behaviour Checklist (IBC) was developed to assess behavioral characteristics in infants.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the relationship between behavioral characteristics of very-low-birth-weight infants and their neurodevelopmental outcomes at 6 years of age.
- To investigate the utility of the Infant Behaviour Checklist (IBC) in identifying potential developmental issues.
Main Methods:
- Behavioral characteristics were assessed using the IBC (44 common behaviors) during the neonatal and early infancy periods in very-low-birth-weight infants.
- Infants were categorized into typical development (TD), intellectual disability (ID), and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) groups based on neurodevelopmental outcomes at 6 years.
- The frequency of specific behavioral items was compared between developmental groups.
Main Results:
- The frequency of three behavior-related items was significantly lower in the ID group compared to the TD group.
- The ASD group showed a significantly lower frequency of three posture- and behavior-related items and a higher frequency of two posture-related items compared to the TD group.
- Specific behavioral patterns identified by the IBC differentiated between TD, ID, and ASD outcomes.
Conclusions:
- Behavioral assessment using the IBC shows promise in identifying very-low-birth-weight infants at risk for neurodevelopmental disorders.
- The IBC may provide valuable early clues for intervention strategies in high-risk infant populations.
- Early identification of behavioral characteristics can aid in timely neurodevelopmental support for low-birth-weight infants.
Abstract:
Assessment of the characteristics of spontaneous movements and behaviour in early infancy helps in estimating developmental outcomes. We introduced the Infant Behaviour Checklist (IBC) and examined the relationship between the behavioural characteristics of low-birth-weight infants and neurodevelopmental outcomes at 6 years of age. The behavioural characteristics during the neonatal (36-43 weeks, adjusted) and early infancy periods (49-60 weeks, adjusted) were assessed in very-low-birth-weight infants. The IBC includes 44 common behaviours. We assessed the appearance of individual behavioural characteristics at each period according to the neurodevelopmental outcome. Of the 143 infants assessed during the neonatal period, 89 had typical development (TD), 30 had intellectual disability (ID), and 24 had autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In 78 infants assessed during early infancy, 40, 21, and 17 had TD, ID, and ASD, respectively. The frequency of appearance of three behaviour-related items was significantly lower in the ID group than in the TD group. The frequency of appearance of three posture- and behaviour-related items was significantly lower, while that of two posture-related items was significantly higher, in the ASD group than in the TD group. Behavioural assessment using the IBC may provide promising clues when considering early intervention for low-birth-weight infants.
