Psychosocial correlates of neurodevelopmental disabilities in 2- to 3-year-olds

Abstract

Rationale: Canada's National Longitudinal Study of Children and Youth survey data provide insights into chronic health conditions in children. Children with neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDD) are at increased risk for adverse behavioral outcomes.

Methods: We examined data from 3 cycles of Canada's National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth for the presence of epilepsy (Epi), cerebral palsy (CP), and intellectual disability (ID) in 2- to 3-year-olds. We then examined the relationship of NDD to composite measures of behavior: hyperactivity-inattention (HI), prosocial behaviors (PS), emotional disorder-anxiety (EA), physical aggression oppositional behavior (AO), and separation anxiety (SA).

Results: There were 15 children with Epi, 25 with CP and 28 with ID in a sample of 10,879, which represented a population of 756,848 2- to 3-year-old Canadian children. Comparison of mean scores of the NDD groups and controls (Welch's ANOVA), indicated statistically significant differences in HI, PS, EA, and SA at the p < 0.001 level. Post hoc analysis showed significant intergroup differences. Children with epilepsy did not differ from controls on any of the behavioral measures. However, in comparison to controls, children with intellectual disability had higher EA and SA scores and lower PS scores, and those with cerebral palsy had lower PS scores.

Conclusions: Children with NDD show differences in behavioral outcomes at a very early age when compared with controls. Screening for these behaviors and early intervention programs may help avoid longer term psychiatric comorbidity associated with these disabilities.

Keywords: Anxiety; Behavior; Comorbid disorders; Hyperactivity; Neurodevelopmental disabilities; Prosocial behavior; Toddlers.