Background

To examine differences in sitting posture in infants at low- and high-risk for autism spectrum disorder and to establish the relationship between sitting postural control and other developmental domains.

Methods

A total of 19 infants participated in the study. Eight infants at high-risk and 11 infants at low-risk for autism spectrum disorder. Sitting posture at 6 months was evaluated using a force platform while center of pressure data were acquired. We utilized traditional tools of center of pressure analysis, such as range, median frequency and frequency dispersion, as well as non-linear tools such as Sample Entropy for both the medial-lateral and anterior-posterior directions. At 12 months we used the Mullen Scales of Early Learning, the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales Developmental Profile™ and the Ages and Stages Questionnaire, the personal-social subscale.

Findings

At 6 months none of the postural control measures showed statistically significant differences between groups. Infants at high-risk presented significantly lower scores in all behavioral domains than infants at low-risk at 12 months with fair effect sizes. Certain measures of postural control at 6 months could predict language and visual reception behavior at 12 months.

Interpretation

Infants at high-risk for autism spectrum disorder present with delays in social, communication and language behavior as well as altered postural control in the first year of life. The present data support the possibility that motor skills and specifically postural control may drive the development in other domains.

中文翻译：

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姿势控制可能会推动婴儿期其他领域的发展

背景

研究自闭症谱系障碍低风险和高风险婴儿的坐姿差异，并建立坐姿控制与其他发育领域之间的关系。

方法

共有 19 名婴儿参加了这项研究。8 名高危婴儿和 11 名自闭症谱系障碍低危婴儿。使用力平台评估 6 个月时的坐姿，同时获取压力中心数据。我们使用了传统的压力中心分析工具，例如范围、中值频率和频率色散，以及用于内侧-外侧和前后方向的样本熵等非线性工具。在 12 个月大时，我们使用了 Mullen 早期学习量表、沟通和符号行为量表 Developmental Profile™ 以及年龄和阶段问卷，即个人-社会子量表。

发现

在 6 个月时，没有任何姿势控制措施显示组间存在统计学上的显着差异。在 12 个月时，高危婴儿在所有行为领域的得分均显着低于低危婴儿，但效应大小相当。6 个月时的某些姿势控制措施可以预测 12 个月时的语言和视觉接受行为。

解释

自闭症谱系障碍高危婴儿在出生后的第一年会出现社交、交流和语言行为的延迟以及姿势控制的改变。目前的数据支持运动技能，特别是姿势控制可能推动其他领域发展的可能性。