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ERIC Number: EJ1479492
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Sep
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1087-0547
EISSN: EISSN-1557-1246
Available Date: 0000-00-00
Do Infant Heart Rate Variability and Visual Attention Predict Autism and Concerns for ADHD?
Emma M. Jaisle1; Erica D. Musser2; Maylinn Yon1; Susana Garcia1; Antonia M. H. Piergies3; Meghan Miller3
Journal of Attention Disorders, v29 n11 p989-1006 2025
Objective: Investigate whether patterns of heart rate variability (indexed via respiratory sinus arrhythmia) and visual attention at 12 to 18 months of age predict elevated ADHD symptoms, autism, or neither during the preschool period. Method: Ninety infants 12 to 18 months of age (M = 17.27, SD = 1.93; 36 females; 82.2% non-Hispanic) participated in a split-screen eye-tracking task of dynamic social and non-social moving objects. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia was derived from heart rate data collected at baseline and during the task condition. Between 24 and 65 months of age (M = 38.22, SD = 11.14), participants were evaluated and classified into one of three outcome groups: ADHD Concerns (n = 21), Autism (n = 12), or Comparison (i.e., non-Autism/non-ADHD Concerns; n = 57). Results: The ADHD Concerns group exhibited significantly less whole-screen looking time (t(76) = -2.98, p = 0.004, d = 0.82) and spent a significantly lower proportion of time attending to the social portion of the stimulus (t(76) = -2.53, p = 0.01, d = 0.67) than the Comparison group. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia reactivity moderated the association between proportion of time spent looking at the social portion of the stimulus in infancy and ADHD symptoms during the preschool period (b = 0.004, 95% CI [0.0001, 0.01], t(89) = 2.11, p = 0.04), such that greater quantity/intensity of ADHD symptoms was associated with a smaller proportion of look time to the social portion of the stimulus for infants engaging in HRV withdrawal, but not HRV augmentation. Hypotheses focused on autism were not supported. Conclusions: Infants demonstrate distinct patterns of visual attention predictive of elevated ADHD symptoms in the preschool period. Heart rate variability may also demonstrate predictive utility in the context of early ADHD when examined in relation to social attention, but not independently.
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule; Mullen Scales of Early Learning
Grant or Contract Numbers: K99/R00MH106642
Author Affiliations: 1Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA; 2Barnard College, New York, NY, USA; 3University of California, Davis MIND Institute, Sacramento, CA, USA