- Title
- Breathing and behaviour: exploring infant temperament and autism risk in infants born to mothers with asthma
- Creator
- Mallise, Carly A.
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2020
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- Background: Temperament is defined as the early individual differences in behavioural style and plays an important role in developmental processes across the lifespan. Temperament differences have been identified in infants at-risk for ASD, specifically infant siblings of children with ASD. Exploring temperament in at-risk groups may help identify individual differences within ASD, which can subsequently be used to promote improved customisation of interventions. However, there have been no published studies examining the temperament of other at-risk groups in infancy, such as infants born to mothers with asthma. Asthma commonly complicates pregnancy, affecting the physical health of mother and child. Infants born to mothers with asthma are more likely to have poorer perinatal outcomes. These outcomes, such as premature birth and low birthweight, are known risk factors for poorer developmental outcomes in childhood. Further, emerging research suggests that these infants may be at an increased risk of ASD. Exploring temperament and ASD risk in infants born to mothers with asthma may allow for the early identification of those at-risk for poorer developmental outcomes in later childhood. Aims: This thesis aimed to (1) characterise the temperament features of infants born to mothers with asthma at 6 weeks, 6 months and 12 months of age, comparing to normative data and community controls; (2) examine whether temperament features were associated with ASD symptoms at 12 months of age, in infants born to mothers with and without asthma; and (3) explore the temperament, sensory and global developmental features of infants born to mothers with asthma who were screened as ‘at-risk’ for ASD. Methods: Data was collected as part of two longitudinal studies based in New South Wales, Australia; the Breathing for Life Trial – Infant Development study and the BabyMinds study. Participants were mothers with (n = 183) and without (n = 82) asthma, and their infants. Mothers with asthma had asthma severity and asthma control assessed using the Global Initiative for Asthma guidelines during pregnancy. All mothers reported on their infants’ temperament (measured by the Carey Temperament Scales) and sensory features (measured by the Sensory Profile 2) at 6 weeks, 6 months and 12 months of age. Infant risk of ASD (measured by the First Year Inventory) was assessed by parental report at 12 months of age. Infant cognitive, language and motor development (measured by the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development) was assessed at 6 and 12 months of age. Results: Infants born to mothers with asthma differed in their temperament from normative samples, yet not community infants. Additionally, there were no significant differences in infant temperament, based on maternal asthma severity and asthma control during pregnancy. Many associations between temperament domains across the three time points and autism risk were observed in infants born to mothers with asthma, with fewer associations observed in infants born to mothers without asthma. Adaptability (6 months) and distractibility (6 and 12 months) were significant predictors of increased autism risk in infants born to mothers with asthma. Across the three timepoints, infants born to mothers with asthma screened as at-risk for ASD (6 out of 76 infants who were screened for ASD risk) presented with differences to the norm in their temperament, sensory processing and language development. These at-risk infants were more arrhythmic, fussier in mood, less persistent with challenging tasks, and more difficult to distract. Two distinct sensory processing subtypes - sensory adaptive and sensory reactive - were present at 12 months in the at-risk infants. Lastly, the at-risk infants had developmentally appropriate cognitive skills, less-developed language skills, and varied motor skills. Conclusions: This thesis provides no evidence that infants born to mothers with asthma are at an increased risk for temperament difficulties, regardless of maternal asthma severity or asthma control status. This finding is significant as it sends a positive message to both pregnancy women with asthma and their health professionals. However, behavioural features, particularly slow adaptability to change, low distractibility and high sensory reactivity, may be early indicators of higher autism risk in this cohort. Overall, these results support the further examinations of developmental outcomes in infants born to mothers with asthma, in order to understand links between early behavioural features and later childhood functioning.
- Subject
- infant temperament; maternal asthma; sensory processing; autism spectrum disorder; autism risk; autism symptoms; infant development; infant behaviour; infants; mothers
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1417004
- Identifier
- uon:37146
- Rights
- Copyright 2020 Carly A. Mallise
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT01 | Thesis | 1 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download | ||
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT02 | Abstract | 309 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |