Date Presented 03/22/24
To determine the preliminary psychometric properties of the Infant Motor and Engagement Scale (IMES) and to examine whether the IMES discriminates between infants with and without later autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis.
Primary Author and Speaker: Barbara Demchick
Additional Authors and Speakers: Joanne Flanagan, Chih-Ying Li
PURPOSE: To determine the psychometric properties of the Infant Motor and Engagement Scale (IMES) and to examine whether the IMES discriminates between infants with and without a later autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis. We hypothesized that there would be group differences in infant behaviors.1 Although the American Academy of Pediatric recommends developmental surveillance for all 9-month-old for developmental disorders, including ASD, there is limited infant screening tools.2
DESIGN: This descriptive pilot study used retrospective video analysis of infants at 6-9 months who were later identified as having ASD (n=7) or as typically developing (TD) (n=8). Participants were recruited through purposive sampling and publicly available videos.1
METHOD: Raters scored the 36-item IMES by viewing videos of infants to measure movement, play, and engagement with caregivers. We used the Independent-Samples Mann-Whitney U Test to examine differences of the IMES scores between the two groups (ASD vs. TD).1 We applied Fisher’s Exact Test with Bonferroni correction to compare responses of each item between the two groups (ASD vs. TD).1 Content validity was calculated with Cohen’s Kappa for inter-rater reliability and Cronbach’s Alpha for internal consistency.1
RESULTS: There were significant differences of total IMES scores between groups (ASD vs TD). Preliminary data support reliability and validity of the IMES.1
CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that the IMES has the potential to identify behavior differences in 6-9 month old infants later diagnosed with autism.1
IMPACT STATEMENT: Early detection is key to early ASD intervention to support the infant and family. Results have clinical implications for occupational therapists.1
References
Demchick, B. B., Flanagan, J., Li. C. Y., Cassidy, R., & Golding. J. (2023). Early indicators of autism in infants: Development of the IMES screening tool. OTJR: Occupational Therapy Journal of Research, 43(2):255-263. https://doi.org/10.1177/15394492221134910
Lipkin, P.H., & Macias, M.M. (2020). Promoting optimal development: Identifying infants and young children with developmental disorders through developmental surveillance and screening. Pediatrics, 145(1), e20193449.
