@article{cba9f9d205374e948f65b6c3559871e3,
title = "Associations between early language, motor abilities, and later autism traits in infants with typical and elevated likelihood of autism",
abstract = "Slower acquisition of language and motor milestones are common in infants with later autism and studies have indicated that motor skills predict the rate of language development, suggesting these domains of development may be interlinked. However, the inter-relationships between the two domains over development and emerging autistic traits are not fully established. We studied language and motor development using standardized observational and parent-report measures in infants with (n = 271) and without (n = 137) a family history of autism across four waves of data collection from 10 to 36 months. We used Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Models to examine contemporaneous and longitudinal associations between language and motor developments in both elevated and typical likelihood groups. We estimated paths between language and motor abilities at 10, 14, 24, and 36 months and autism trait scores at 36 months, to test whether the domains were interrelated and how they related to emerging autism traits. Results revealed consistent bidirectional Expressive Language (EL) and Fine Motor (FM) cross-lagged effects from 10 to 24 and a unidirectional EL to FM effect from 24 to 36 months as well as significantly correlated random intercepts between Gross motor (GM) and Receptive language (RL), indicating stable concurrent associations over time. However, only the associations between GM and RL were associated with later autism traits. Early motor and language are linked, but only gross motor and receptive language are jointly associated with autistic traits in infants with an autism family history.",
keywords = "autism, language, motor ability, social responsive scale, standardized measures",
author = "Leyan Li and Greg Pasco and Ali, {Jannath Begum} and Johnson, {Mark H.} and Jones, {Emily J.H.} and Tony Charman",
note = "Funding Information: This research received funding from the UK Medical Research Council (G0701484, MR/K021389/1, and MR/T003057/1) and the BASIS funding consortium led by Autistica, and Autism Speaks. Prof Mark Johnson, Prof Emily Jones and Prof Tony Charman were supported by the Innovative Medicines Initiative joint undertaking grant agreement no. 115300 (EU‐AIMS), resources of which are composed of financial contributions from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) and EFPIA companies' in‐kind contribution) and the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking (IMI 2 JU) under grant agreement no. 777394 (AIMS‐2‐TRAILS). This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, EFPIA, Autism Speaks, Autistica, and SFARI. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results. Any views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the funders (IHI‐JU2). Prof Jones and Charman were supported by Horizon Europe grant no. 101057385 (R2D2‐MH) and from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) under the UK government{\textquoteright}s Horizon Europe funding guarantee grant no.10039383. Capital equipment funding from the Maudsley Charity (980) and Guy's and St Thomas' Charity (STR130505). LL is supported by King's‐China Scholarship Council PhD Scholarship and received a grant from Henry Lester Trust. Funding Information: We gratefully thank all the families who took part in this study. The authors would like to thank Kim Davies, Janice Fernandes, Marian Greensmith, and Natalie Vaz who helped with data collection and recruitment and the BASIS/STAARS Research Teams: Agnes Volein, Alexandra Hendry, Amy Goodwin, Andrew Pickles, Anna Blasi, Anna Gui, Anna Kolesnik, Celeste Cheung, Chlo{\"e} Taylor, Erica Salomone, Evelyne Mercure, Hanna Halkola, Helen Maris, Helena Ribeiro, Holly Garwood, Isobel Gammer, Jeanne Giraud, Kristelle Hudry, Laura Pirazzoli Leila Dafner, Leslie Tucker, Louise O'Hara, Luke Mason, Mary Agyapong, Mayada Elsabbagh, Michelle Lieu, Mutluhan Ersoy, Nisha Narvekar, Patrick Bolton, Rachael Bedford, Rebecca Holman, Rianne Haartsen, Sarah Kalwarowsky, Sarah Lloyd-Fox, Simon Baron-Cohen, Susie Chandler, Teodora Gliga and Tessel Bazelmans. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Authors. Autism Research published by International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals LLC.",
year = "2023",
month = dec,
day = "9",
doi = "10.1002/aur.3023",
language = "English",
volume = "16",
pages = "2184--2197",
journal = "Autism research",
issn = "1939-3792",
publisher = "John Wiley & Sons, Ltd",
number = "11",
}