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Developmental Trajectories of Joint Attention and Behavioral Request in Infancy: A Longitudinal Study from 8 to 18

Maite Montagut-Asunción1, Ana D'Ocon-Giménez1, Gemma Pastor-Cerezuela1

  • 1Department of Basic Psychology, University of Valencia, 46010 Valencia, Spain.

Children (Basel, Switzerland)
|July 28, 2026
PubMed

Insights

Infant social communication, including joint attention and behavioral requests, develops hierarchically. Basic skills remain stable, while complex communication emerges and grows significantly with age.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental psychology
  • Infant communication
  • Social cognition

Background:

  • Joint attention and behavioral requests are fundamental to early social communication.
  • These skills are crucial for later socio-cognitive development.
  • Understanding their developmental trajectories is key for identifying typical and atypical development.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine the developmental trajectories of joint attention and behavioral request behaviors in infants.
  • To analyze how these foundational social communication skills evolve across the first 18 months of life.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal study of 55 infants from birth cohort in Valencia, Spain.
  • Assessment at 8, 12, and 18 months using the Early Social Communication Scales (ESCS).
  • Analysis of developmental changes using linear mixed-effects models (LMMs).

Main Results:

  • Differentiated developmental trajectories observed based on behavioral complexity.
  • Low-level Initiating Joint Attention remained stable; high-level Initiating and Responding to Joint Attention increased significantly with age.
  • Behavioral requests shifted from simple to more complex, intentional forms, showing significant developmental changes.

Conclusions:

  • Joint attention and behavioral request behaviors follow a hierarchical developmental pattern in infancy.
  • Early infancy is characterized by stable basic behaviors, with more complex communicative forms emerging later.
  • These findings enhance understanding of typical development and highlight early social communication as potential markers for developmental risk.

Keywords:
behavioral requestdevelopmental riskdevelopmental trajectoriesearly social communicationinfancyjoint attentionneurodevelopmental disorders

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