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Qualitative and Quantitative Measures of Joint Attention Development in the First Year of Life: A Scoping Review
Holly Bradley1, Beth A Smith1,2,3, Rujuta B Wilson4
1Division of Behavioral Pediatrics, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California.
Insights
This review identifies common methods for assessing joint attention (JA) in infants. Understanding infant JA development is crucial for early detection of developmental disabilities.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Joint attention (JA) involves coordinating attention with another person, crucial for early social-cognitive development.
- Atypical JA development in infancy is an early indicator of various developmental disabilities.
- Assessing infant JA aids in understanding typical and atypical developmental trajectories.
Purpose of the Study:
- To conduct a scoping review to identify and categorize common methods for assessing joint attention (JA) in infants.
- To analyze the strengths and limitations of existing JA assessment methods.
- To guide future research in infant JA measurement.
Main Methods:
- A comprehensive literature search was conducted across four databases.
- 13,898 articles were screened, with 106 selected for review.
- Methods were categorized as qualitative or quantitative.
Main Results:
- Frequent methods identified include eye tracking, electroencephalography (EEG), behavioral coding, and the Early Social Communication Scale (ESCS).
- These methods are applied to assess JA in both typically and atypically developing infants.
- The review synthesizes the current landscape of JA measurement in the first year of life.
Conclusions:
- This review offers a comprehensive overview of JA assessment tools for infants.
- It highlights the strengths and limitations of current methodologies.
- Recommendations are provided for advancing JA research in developmental studies.
Abstract:
Joint attention (JA) is the purposeful coordination of an individual's focus of attention with that of another and begins to develop within the first year of life. Delayed, or atypically developing, JA is an early behavioral sign of many developmental disabilities and so assessing JA in infancy can improve our understanding of trajectories of typical and atypical development. This scoping review identified the most common methods for assessing JA in the first year of life. Methods of JA were divided into qualitative and quantitative categories. Out of an identified 13,898 articles, 106 were selected after a robust search of four databases. Frequent methods used were eye tracking, electroencephalography (EEG), behavioral coding and the Early Social Communication Scale (ECSC). These methods were used to assess JA in typically and atypically developing infants in the first year of life. This study provides a comprehensive review of the past and current state of measurement of JA in the literature, the strengths and limitations of the measures used, and the next steps to consider for researchers interested in investigating JA to strengthen this field going forwards.
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