Revisiting the first year inventory with a dimensional approach to assess the predictive value of infant attention behaviors

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Stephens, Rebecca
- Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience

Abstract

Research supports a strong relationship between early attention behaviors and neurological attention networks and later cognitive and social capabilities, including impairments associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The First Year Inventory (FYI) was designed to flag 12-month-olds at risk for a diagnosis of ASD. The goal of the current study was to develop new constructs from FYI items that reflect aspects of attention, through a comprehensive literature review of behavioral and neurological correlates of infant attention, feedback from other researchers, statistical analyses and associations between the new constructs and clinical outcome data. We operationalized three new constructs of attention: responding to attention coordination (RAC), initiating attention coordination (IAC) and sensory and attentional engagement (SAE). Cronbach's alpha analyses indicated good internal consistency, and regression analyses showed a significant relationship between scores on these new constructs at 12 months and ASD symptom severity at age three.

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