SOCIAL & AFFECTIVE PROCESSES IN AUTISM: STAART PROGRAM

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Aim 1: To investigate the early course of development in children with autism, examining the influence of co-occurring problem behaviors, competencies, and temperament within the child, parental well-being within the family, and intensity (hours per week) within the intervention service factor on change in core autism symptoms over time. We hypothesize that --Temperament will influence severity of core autism symptoms through its association with co-occurring problem behaviors and competencies, which will directly influence core autism symptoms. --Service Intensity is hypothesized to directly affect change in core autism symptoms. --Finally, both positive and negative effects of parental well-being are hypothesized to influence core autism symptoms through their association with co-occurring problem behaviors and competencies. Thus, both the influence of parental well-being and temperament on core autism symptoms is expected to be mediated by co-occurring problems and competencies, which have direct effects along with service intensity. Not shown, but hypothesized to be important control variables in the model are language functioning and IQ, developmental life events (e.g., age at diagnosis, services transitions, changes in family structure), and sociodemographic characteristics of the child (sex, ethnicity/race). We anticipate that among the control variables, language will account for the largest amount of variance and that other control variables will not add significant unique variance in the prediction of core autism symptoms once language, and perhaps IQ, are included in models.