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Quantifying Latent Social Motivation and Its Associations with Joint Attention and Language in Infants at High and Low Likelihood for Autism Spectrum Disorder

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Quantifying Latent Social Motivation and Its Associations with Joint Attention and Language in Infants at High and Low Likelihood for Autism Spectrum Disorder
Language: English
Authors: Stallworthy, Isabella C., Berry, Daniel, Davis, Savannah, Wolff, Jason J., Burrows, Catherine A., Swanson, Meghan R., Grzadzinski, Rebecca L., Botteron, Kelly, Dager, Stephen R., Estes, Annette M., Schultz, Robert T., Piven, Joseph, Elison, Jed T., Pruett, John R., Marrus, Natasha
Source: Developmental Science. May 2023 26(3).
Availability: Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 16
Publication Date: 2023
Sponsoring Agency: National Institutes of Health (NIH) (DHHS)
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) (DHHS/NIH)
Contract Number: HD055741
HD079124
HD083091
HD087011
HD86984
K08MH112891
MH118362
MH11836202S1
R01MH104324
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Descriptors: Infants, Autism Spectrum Disorders, At Risk Persons, Motivation, Interpersonal Relationship, Social Behavior, Attention, Language, Time
DOI: 10.1111/desc.13336
ISSN: 1363-755X
1467-7687
Abstract: Social motivation--the psychobiological predisposition for social orienting, seeking social contact, and maintaining social interaction--manifests in early infancy and is hypothesized to be foundational for social communication development in typical and atypical populations. However, the lack of infant social-motivation measures has hindered delineation of associations between infant social motivation, other early-arising social abilities such as joint attention, and language outcomes. To investigate how infant social motivation contributes to joint attention and language, this study utilizes a mixed longitudinal sample of 741 infants at high (HL = 515) and low (LL = 226) likelihood for ASD. Using moderated nonlinear factor analysis (MNLFA), we incorporated items from parent-report measures to establish a novel latent factor model of infant social motivation that exhibits measurement invariance by age, sex, and familial ASD likelihood. We then examined developmental associations between 6- and 12-month social motivation, joint attention at 12-15 months, and language at 24 months of age. On average, greater social-motivation growth from 6-12 months was associated with greater initiating joint attention (IJA) and trend-level increases in sophistication of responding to joint attention (RJA). IJA and RJA were both positively associated with 24-month language abilities. There were no additional associations between social motivation and future language in our path model. These findings substantiate a novel, theoretically driven approach to modeling social motivation and suggest a developmental cascade through which social motivation impacts other foundational skills. These findings have implications for the timing and nature of intervention targets to support social communication development in infancy.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2023
Accession Number: EJ1372304
Database: ERIC
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Abstract:Social motivation--the psychobiological predisposition for social orienting, seeking social contact, and maintaining social interaction--manifests in early infancy and is hypothesized to be foundational for social communication development in typical and atypical populations. However, the lack of infant social-motivation measures has hindered delineation of associations between infant social motivation, other early-arising social abilities such as joint attention, and language outcomes. To investigate how infant social motivation contributes to joint attention and language, this study utilizes a mixed longitudinal sample of 741 infants at high (HL = 515) and low (LL = 226) likelihood for ASD. Using moderated nonlinear factor analysis (MNLFA), we incorporated items from parent-report measures to establish a novel latent factor model of infant social motivation that exhibits measurement invariance by age, sex, and familial ASD likelihood. We then examined developmental associations between 6- and 12-month social motivation, joint attention at 12-15 months, and language at 24 months of age. On average, greater social-motivation growth from 6-12 months was associated with greater initiating joint attention (IJA) and trend-level increases in sophistication of responding to joint attention (RJA). IJA and RJA were both positively associated with 24-month language abilities. There were no additional associations between social motivation and future language in our path model. These findings substantiate a novel, theoretically driven approach to modeling social motivation and suggest a developmental cascade through which social motivation impacts other foundational skills. These findings have implications for the timing and nature of intervention targets to support social communication development in infancy.
ISSN:1363-755X
1467-7687
DOI:10.1111/desc.13336