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Do Infant Heart Rate Variability and Visual Attention Predict Autism and Concerns for ADHD?
Emma M Jaisle1, Erica D Musser2, Maylinn Yon1
1Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA.
Insights
Infant visual attention patterns predict later ADHD symptoms. Heart rate variability (HRV) combined with social attention may also indicate ADHD risk, but not autism.
Area of Science:
- Developmental psychology
- Neuroscience
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Early identification of neurodevelopmental conditions like ADHD and autism is crucial.
- Understanding early behavioral and physiological markers can inform timely interventions.
- Infant attention and heart rate patterns are potential early indicators.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if infant visual attention and heart rate variability (HRV) at 12-18 months predict ADHD or autism symptoms in preschool years.
- To determine if HRV moderates the relationship between visual attention and later ADHD symptoms.
Main Methods:
- Ninety infants (12-18 months) completed an eye-tracking task with social and non-social stimuli.
- Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), an index of HRV, was measured.
- Participants were assessed between 24-65 months and categorized into ADHD Concerns, Autism, or Comparison groups.
Main Results:
- Infants later diagnosed with ADHD Concerns showed less overall looking time and less attention to social stimuli compared to controls.
- HRV reactivity moderated the link between infant social attention and preschool ADHD symptoms.
- No significant predictive patterns were found for autism.
Conclusions:
- Distinct infant visual attention patterns predict preschool ADHD symptoms.
- HRV, in conjunction with social attention, may offer predictive value for early ADHD.
- Neither visual attention nor HRV patterns independently predicted autism in this cohort.
Objective:
Investigate whether patterns of heart rate variability (indexed via respiratory sinus arrhythmia) and visual attention at 12 to 18 months of age predict elevated ADHD symptoms, autism, or neither during the preschool period.
Method:
Ninety infants 12 to 18 months of age (M = 17.27, SD = 1.93; 36 females; 82.2% non-Hispanic) participated in a split-screen eye-tracking task of dynamic social and non-social moving objects. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia was derived from heart rate data collected at baseline and during the task condition. Between 24 and 65 months of age (M = 38.22, SD = 11.14), participants were evaluated and classified into one of three outcome groups: ADHD Concerns (n = 21), Autism (n = 12), or Comparison (i.e., non-Autism/non-ADHD Concerns; n = 57).
Results:
The ADHD Concerns group exhibited significantly less whole-screen looking time (t(76) = -2.98, p = .004, d = 0.82) and spent a significantly lower proportion of time attending to the social portion of the stimulus (t(76) = -2.53, p = .01, d = 0.67) than the Comparison group. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia reactivity moderated the association between proportion of time spent looking at the social portion of the stimulus in infancy and ADHD symptoms during the preschool period (b = 0.004, 95% CI [0.0001, 0.01], t(89) = 2.11, p = .04), such that greater quantity/intensity of ADHD symptoms was associated with a smaller proportion of look time to the social portion of the stimulus for infants engaging in HRV withdrawal, but not HRV augmentation. Hypotheses focused on autism were not supported.
Conclusions:
Infants demonstrate distinct patterns of visual attention predictive of elevated ADHD symptoms in the preschool period. Heart rate variability may also demonstrate predictive utility in the context of early ADHD when examined in relation to social attention, but not independently.
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