Date Presented 04/05/19
This poster will present a study that gathered sensory profile data for 408 children who experienced early adversity. Results characterize sensory processing behaviors of this population, offering participants insights about sensory characteristics and type of maltreatment, as well as length of exposure to maltreatment. Findings can help guide OT assessment and intervention for children who experience early adversity.
Primary Author and Speaker: Amy Lynch
Contributing Authors: David Cross, Casey Call, Amanda Howard
PURPOSE: This purpose of this study was to investigate the sensory characteristics of children aged 5 - 12 who experienced abuse and neglect.
DESIGN: This study is a secondary analysis of pre-test data collected for an intervention study. The intervention study included parents who were interested in learning about relationship and developmental needs of adopted children with a history of maltreatment, as well as practical strategies to improve child outcomes. Researchers recruited adoptive parents of children who had experienced abuse, neglect, or no maltreatment in a prior living setting through flyers, emails to pediatric medical and mental health providers. Criteria included child age and length of time in the adoptive home.
METHOD: Parents of 408 adopted children (M=7.89, SD=2.03) with known history of abuse, neglect, or no maltreatment reported children’s sensory processing abilities using the Short Sensory Profile (SSP; McIntosh, et al., 1999).
RESULTS: Seventy-nine percent of the sample had sensory processing dysfunction (41% = Definite Difference; 38% = Probable Difference). Children with a history of abuse (n=147) had impairments in Tactile Sensitivity (84.4%) and Taste/Smell Sensitivity (47.6%). Children with a history of neglect (n=125) score differently in Underresponsive/Seeks Sensation (neglect=83.2%; abuse=57.8%). Both groups had significant differences in Underresponsive/Seeks Sensation and Auditory Filtering.
CONCLUSION: Children with a history of adversity had sensory processing differences that varied by the type of maltreatment experienced. Children with early adversity may benefit from Occupational Therapy, which can identify individual sensory dilemmas, and can establish individual, family, and environmental interventions to mitigate the impact of the sensory processing challenges upon daily activity performance.
References
Anda, R.F., Felitti, V.J., Bremner, J.D., Walker, J.D., Whitfield, C.H., Perry, B.D., ... & Giles, W.H. (2006). The enduring effects of abuse and related adverse experiences in childhood. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 256(3), 174-186.
Lin, S.H., Cermak, S., Coster, W.J., & Miller, L. (2005). The relation between length of institutionalization and sensory integration in children adopted from Eastern Europe. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 59(2), 139-147.
Wilbarger, J., Gunnar, M., Schneider, M., & Pollak, S. (2010). Sensory processing in internationally adopted, post-institutionalized children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 51(10), 1105-1114.
