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Children born with congenital heart disease (CHD) are at an increased risk for various neurodevelopmental impairments. However, little is known regarding social outcomes associated with CHD, particularly during early childhood. The present study aimed to characterize the sociocognitive profile and to assess the contribution of language, executive functions (EF), and social cognition to social competence (SC) in preschoolers with CHD.Five-year-old children with CHD (Children with CHD performed significantly worse than norms in language and ToM, whereas EF and social competence appeared generally preserved in our sample. In hierarchical regression analysis, cognitive functions (language score, AR, ToM, EF performance) accounted for a significant 24.3% of the variance. Parent-rated EF added another 24.8% to the total explained variance.These findings provide new evidence for understanding social cognition and competence among preschoolers with CHD, showing vulnerability in social cognition and language skills but not in social competence more generally. The model suggests a combined contribution of social cognition, language, and EF on social outcomes. Remedial programs addressing these intervention targets could be useful in promoting social development in this vulnerable population. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Aim: This study sought to evaluate the accuracy of the Ages and Stages Questionnaires 3rd Edition (ASQ-3) in identifying developmental delay (DD) in children with congenital heart disease (CHD) born at term who underwent surgical repair.Methods: Participants had to complete ASQ-3 and Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development 3rd Edition (BSID-III) at 12 and 24 months. A child was considered at risk of DD for a ASQ-3 domain when he scored below the cutoff (≤-1SD or ≤-2SD). A child had a DD in a BSID-III domain when the score was ≤-1SD. The validity for each ASQ-3 domain and for overall ASQ-3 was measured.Results: At 12 months (n = 64), overall ASQ-3 (≤-2SD) sensitivity was 88%, specificity 74%. At 24 months (n = 82), overall ASQ-3 (≤-2SD) sensitivity was 74%, specificity 88%.Conclusion: The results support the utility of the ASQ-3 for screening the overall risk of DD in children with CHD.

Background Child development is influenced by the psychosocial environment. As part of developmental surveillance, identifying psychosocial risk factors that could hinder optimal development is therefore important. However, whether parents consider this type of question pertinent and acceptable remains unknown. Objectives To examine parental perception regarding the acceptability of asking questions about psychosocial background as part of a standardized developmental surveillance questionnaire. Design/Methods Using an online questionnaire and a snowball sampling approach, we surveyed parents living with at least one child Results Of 1651 participants, 97% were mothers and 93% declared having a post-secondary degree. Median age was 34 years old (interquartile range 31-38). An overwhelming majority found acceptable the questions about concerns regarding their child development (99%) and family history of developmental problems (95%). Psychosocial indicators were considered acceptable in the following proportions: substance abuse (84%), food insecurity (77%), past maternal history of depression (74%), and education level (65%). Higher rates of acceptability correlated with higher educational levels. Main themes that emerged regarding unacceptability were as follows: questions being offensive or intrusive, questions not relevant to child development, improper physical environment to ask such questions and lack of relationship with the health care professional in charge. Conclusion As part of developmental surveillance, questions on psychosocial risk factors can be disturbing to parents and must be addressed in a trusting environment and with a sensitive manner.

Purpose: This retrospective study aims to describe the gross motor development of children aged 4 to 24 months with congenital heart disease (CHD) enrolled in a systematic developmental follow-up program and to describe the frequency of physical therapy sessions they received between 4 and 8 months of age. Methods: Twenty-nine infants with CHD underwent motor evaluations using the AIMS at 4 months, and the Bayley-III at 12 and 24 months. Results: Based on AIMS, 79% of 4-month-old infants had a gross motor delay and required physical therapy. Among these, 56.5% received one to two physical therapy sessions, and 43.5% received three to six sessions. Infants who benefited from regular interventions tended to show a better improvement in motor scores from 12 to 24 months. Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of early motor screening in infants with CHD and suggests a potential benefit of early physical therapy in at-risk children. Abbreviations: CHD: Congenital heart disease; AIMS: Alberta Infant Motor Scales; Bayley-III: Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third edition; Bayley-III/GM: Gross Motor section of the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third edition.

Objective Prenatal exposure to stress and fever are factors lowering seizure threshold in animal models. The fever effect on seizure threshold is well documented in human infants, however the associations between maternal perinatal stress and infants’ susceptibility to seizures is unknown. This is the first study in humans to investigate longitudinally, whether in humans, the effect of maternal perinatal emotional symptoms such as stress, anxiety and depression that may trigger a biological stress response on age at first seizure occurrence. Method The study sample is a subgroup drawn from a longitudinal follow up cohort (3D cohort study: Design, Develop, Discover, N = 2366 mother-infant dyads). Twenty-nine otherwise healthy infants who had a febrile seizure (FS) episode before the last follow-up visit (around 24 months of age) were studied. Mothers completed questionnaires regarding their emotional health at each pregnancy trimester and at three months postpartum. The link between maternal emotional symptoms and infant age at first FS was assessed through correlations and multiple regressions. Results We found that maternal anxiety symptoms during the second trimester of pregnancy are linked to the age at first FS (r(23) = −0.459, p = 0.021) and explain 21.1% of its variance. Postnatal maternal depression symptoms at 3 months postpartum were also associated with the age at first FS (r(23) = −0.587, p = 0.002) and explained an additional 17.6% of variance. Together, the variables explained 38.7% of the variance in age at first FS. Maternal perceived stress symptoms at 3 months postpartum were also linked to the age at first FS (r(23) = −0.418, p = 0.038), however, stress did not significantly contribute to the variance of age at first FS.. Significance Our results suggest a link between increased perinatal maternal emotional symptoms and the age at first FS. An earlier age at first FS may be the manifestation of a lower seizure threshold. Early first seizure occurrence is a risk factor for compromised neurological and cognitive development. Further studies should address the mechanisms by which perinatal maternal emotional symptoms may have an impact on seizure threshold in humans.

Objective To compare children's cognitive, motor, and language development at 2 years of age after assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) relative to natural conception. Methods The 3D-Study (2010-2012) is a prospective cohort study, which sought to improve the understanding among perinatal events, obstetric outcomes, and child development. A total of 2,366 pregnant women were recruited, of whom 278 conceived with ART: ovarian stimulation, intrauterine sperm insemination, in vitro fertilization, intracytoplasmic sperm injection, or in vitro maturation. Natural conception was defined as the unassisted establishment of pregnancy. Cognitive, motor, and language neurodevelopmental outcomes were compared between ART and natural conception groups at 24 months using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, 3rd edition, and the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories. Adjusted linear regression models evaluated the effect of ART on neurodevelopmental outcomes using natural conception as a reference. Results A total of 175 children in the ART group (62.9%) and 1,345 children in the natural conception group (64.4%) underwent neurodevelopmental assessment at 24 months postpartum. After adjusting for relevant confounders, children born after ART showed no difference in Bayley scales' cognitive scores (B1 [standard error]=-1.60 [0.9], 95% confidence interval [CI] -3.36 to 0.16), composite motor scores (B1 [standard error]=-1.33 [1.0], 95% CI -3.29 to 0.63), or MacArthur-Bates language scores (B1 [standard error]=-0.28 [2.1], 95% CI -4.39 to 3.83). No difference was observed when independent ART techniques were compared nor when comparing in vivo (ovarian stimulation or intrauterine insemination) or in vitro (in vitro fertilization, intracytoplasmic sperm injection, or in vitro maturation) techniques (P>.05). Conclusion Children born after ART had similar cognitive, motor, and language development as children born after natural conception at 2 years of age. These findings may be useful in the clinical counseling of patients undergoing ART.

Preterm infants are at greater risk of language delay. Early identification of language delay is essential to improve functional outcome in these children.To examine the concurrent validity of Rescorla's Language Development Survey and the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development (Bayley-III) at 18months corrected age in preterm infants.Test accuracy study.189 preterm infants born29weeks were assessed at 18months.The Language Development Survey, a parent-reported screening instrument, was administered in French concurrently with the Language Scales of the Bayley-III. Receiver-Operating-Characteristics curves were used to determine optimal cut-off score on the Language Development Survey to identify Bayley-III score85. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and κ coefficient were calculated.Using Rescorla's original cut-off scores of ≤10 words for boys and ≤24 for girls, sensitivity was 76% and 88% for boys and girls, respectively, and specificity was 73% and 52% for boys and girls, respectively, in identifying language delay as per the Bayley-III. The optimal threshold was ≤10 words for both boys and girls. In girls, lowering the cut-off score decreased sensitivity (79%), but improved specificity (82%), thus lowering the number of false-positives.Our findings support using the Language Development Survey as an expressive language screener in preterm infants.

Atypical head circumference (HC) growth has been associated with neurodevelopmental disorders. However, whether it is associated with specific aspects of development in early childhood in the general population is unknown. The objective of this study was to assess the predictive value of HC growth as an early biomarker of behavioral traits. We examined longitudinal associations between HC growth from 0 to 12 months and temperament, cognitive, and motor development at 24 months. A subsample of healthy children (N = 756) was drawn from the 3D (Design, Develop, Discover) cohort study. Early HC growth was modeled with latent growth curve analysis. Greater postnatal HC growth predicted lower temperamental effortful control and lower surgency/extraversion in boys. HC growth did not predict cognitive or fine motor scores, but did predict greater gross motor skills in boys. No significant effect of HC growth was found in girls. This study is the first to demonstrate an association between postnatal HC growth and specific aspects of child development in a healthy population. Results suggest HC growth overshadows brain mechanisms involved in behavioral traits in early infancy. Whether links are maintained throughout development and the mechanisms involved correspond to traits found in atypical populations remains to be studied.

OBJECTIVE. This article documents the convergent validity of the Sensory Profile (SP) and the Sensory Processing Measure (SPM)–Home Form for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). METHOD. Parents of 34 children with ASD between ages 5 and 8 yr filled out both measures. Through correlations, χ2 tests, and levels of agreement between classifications, the results for the SP and the SPM–Home Form were compared. RESULTS. The raw scores were correlated for some sensory domains (hearing, vision, touch, and proprioception) and for social functioning. The classifications showed a significant level of agreement for most scales (κs = .247–.589, p ≤ .05) and for the total scores (κ = .324, p ≤ .01). CONCLUSION. This study provides further evidence of convergent validity between both tools. The SPM–Home Form identifies more children with ASD who present with sensory features for every domain measured by both tools.

BACKGROUND Infants with childhood-onset epilepsies, including epileptic encephalopathies, are at high risk of developmental challenges such as motor and language delays. There has been a growing focus on developmental screening instruments due to the association between delayed development and long-term adverse outcomes, including negative impacts on health-related quality of life, school achievement and social participation. Therefore, children with developmental delays should be referred as early as possible to rehabilitation services such as occupational, physical, or speech therapy. Developmental screening using standardized tools is recommended in order to identify the high-risk children that require additional developmental assessments. The Ages and Stages Questionnaires (ASQ), a parent-completed developmental screening tool, is one of the more cited and recommended developmental screening tools. However, its utility in children with early-onset epilepsy has yet to be validated. OBJECTIVES This study aimed to determine the validity of the ASQ for identifying children with new-onset epilepsy who require further professional developmental rehabilitation. DESIGN/METHODS Fifty infants (25 males) with seizure onset under 3 years of age were prospectively recruited. Parents completed the ASQ-3 before the first clinic appointment. The ASQ-3 evaluates 5 domains of development. An ASQ score below 2 standard deviations (SD) on any one of the domains was considered abnormal. Once completed, all infants were evaluated by a multidisciplinary team including neurologists, occupational therapists, and physical therapists to determine if they should be referred for further rehabilitation interventions. Accuracy of the ASQ was calculated in terms of sensibility, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV). RESULTS Mean age at the initial evaluation was 13.1 months (SD=8.22). Among the 50 infants, 36 (72%) received a score CONCLUSION The ASQ, a well-known parent-completed developmental screening tool, when abnormal shows adequate validity for the identification of children with early-onset epilepsy who require developmental assessments and interventions by rehabilitation professionals. Our results also provide further evidence that development delay is the rule rather than the exception in infants with new onset epilepsy.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Bevacizumab intravitreal injection, a vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitor, is used to treat retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). However, concerns have been raised regarding its systemic absorption and effect on developing tissues including brain. This study compared neurodevelopment at 18 months’ corrected age in preterm infants of METHODS: Data from the Canadian Neonatal Network and the Canadian Neonatal Follow-Up Network databases were retrospectively reviewed. Infants born at RESULTS: Of 125 treated infants, 27 received bevacizumab and 98 laser. The bevacizumab group, compared with laser, obtained a median Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development Third Edition motor composite score of 81 (interquartile range, 70–91) versus 88 (79–97), a language composite score of 79 (65–97) versus 89 (74–97), and a cognitive score of 90 (80–100) versus 90 (85–100). Difference was detected on the motor score only (P = .02). Odds of severe neurodevelopmental disabilities (Bayley scores CONCLUSIONS: Preterm infants treated with bevacizumab versus laser had higher odds of severe neurodevelopmental disabilities. Further investigation on the long-term safety of antivascular endothelial growth factor treatment of ROP is needed.

Both the Amiel-Tison Neurological Assessment at Term and the Amiel-Tison Neurological Assessment From Birth to 6 Years Old are based on the same conceptual framework and both can be used throughout childhood; however, interobserver reliability must be evaluated before these assessments can be introduced into neurodevelopmental follow-up. The aim of this study was to evaluate the interobserver reliability of both assessments. Infants between 29 and 37 weeks gestation were examined with the Amiel-Tison Neurological Assessment at Term (n = 33) and with the Amiel-Tison Neurological Assessment From Birth to 6 Years Old (n = 26). The infants were assessed by two examiners, one after and in the absence of the other. The kappa coefficient and percentage of agreement were calculated. The majority of items in both assessments showed an excellent reliability. The kappa coefficient for the final synthesis was also excellent in both cases. Future studies on the predictive validity of both assessments are required to determine their utility in predicting long-term neurodevelopmental outcome.

International audience; Chlordecone is a persistent organochlorine pesticide that was used in the French West Indies until the early 1990s for banana weevil borer control. Human exposure to this chemical in this area still occurs nowadays due to consumption of contaminated food. Although adverse effects on neurodevelopment, including tremors and memory deficits, have been documented in experimental studies conducted with rodents exposed during the gestational and neonatal periods, no study has been conducted yet to determine if chlordecone alters child development. This study examines the relation of gestational and postnatal exposure to chlordecone to infant development at 18 months of age in a birth-cohort of Guadeloupean children. In a prospective longitudinal study conducted in Guadeloupe (Timoun mother-child cohort study), exposure to chlordecone was measured at birth from an umbilical cord blood sample (n=141) and from a breast milk sample collected at 3 months postpartum (n=75). Toddlers were assessed using an adapted version of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire. Higher chlordecone concentrations in cord blood were associated with poorer fine motor scores. When analyses were conducted separately for boys and girls, this effect was only observed among boys. These results suggest that prenatal exposure to chlordecone is associated with specific impairments in fine motor function in boys, and add to the growing evidence that exposure to organochlorine pesticides early in life impairs child development.

BACKGROUND: Although preterm infants born at 29 to 36 gestational weeks (GW) are at risk for developmental delay, they do not always benefit from systematic follow-up. Primary care physicians are then responsible for their developmental surveillance and need effective screening tests. This study aimed to determine whether the Ages and Stages Questionnaires (ASQ) at 12 and 24 months’ corrected age (CA) identify developmental delay in preterm infants. METHODS: With a cross-sectional design involving 2 observations at 12 and 24 months’ CA, 124 and 112 preterm infants were assessed. Infants were born between May 2004 and April 2006 at 29 to 36 GW. The ASQ and the Bayley Scales of Infant Development were used. Concurrent validity was calculated by using κ coefficient, sensitivity, and specificity. RESULTS: At 12 months’ CA, the ASQ did not perform well in identifying infants with mental delay (κ = 0.08–0.19; sensitivity = 0.20–0.60; specificity = 0.68–0.88). Agreement (κ = 0.28–0.44) and specificity (0.90–0.97) were better for the psychomotor scale, but the sensitivity remained insufficient (0.25–0.52). At 24 months, the ASQ had good sensitivity (0.75–0.92) and specificity (0.55–0.78) for detecting mental delays (κ = 0.45). Results remained unsatisfactory for detecting motor delays (sensitivity = 0.31–0.50; specificity = 0.73–0.92). CONCLUSIONS: Preterm infants with developmental delays at 12 months’ CA are not adequately identified with the ASQ. At 24 months’ CA, the ASQ identifies mental delays but not psychomotor delays. Additional measures should be used to increase yield of detecting at-risk preterm infants.

Children adopted from Eastern Europe are at risk of prenatal alcohol exposure, consequently at risk of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). To our knowledge, a systematic complete assessment of these disabilities among adoptees from Eastern Europe has not yet been reported.To assess physical and neurodevelopmental status to identify FASD in children adopted from Eastern Europe.Cross sectional study at International Adoption Clinic of a paediatric academic hospital. This evaluation was realized according to the 4-Digit Diagnostic Code (4-DDC).Twenty-nine children were evaluated. Five years after adoption, 7% (N=2) still presented growth delay and 24% (N=7) microcephaly. Facial evaluation demonstrated moderate Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) features in 7% (N=2) of children. Amiel-Tison Neurological Assessment was non optimal in 46% (N=13/28) of children. Visual-motor perception skills were mainly normal, but 14% (N=4) showed distal somatopraxic problems. Cognition, executive functioning, abstract reasoning and memory were normal. Full scale IQ was 105.5 +/- 13.3; verbal IQperformance IQ (p0.005), work memoryshort memory (p0.0001), receptiveexpressive language (p0.0001). Attention-deficit hyperactive disorder was presented in 31% (N=9). Concerning adaptive behaviour, social skills and social communication, 29% (N=8) performed-2 SD and 33% (N=5/15) needed school assistance. According to 4-DDC, 7% (N=2) of children were normal, 21% (N=6) of children were known exposed to alcohol, one of these was classified as Partial FAS and five others presented neurological damage, or neurobehavioral disorders with or without sentinel physical findings. Three percent (N=1) were classified FAS although alcohol exposure was unknown. Sixty-nine percent (N=20) of children presented physical findings alone or neurological anomalies with or without physical findings.In our cohort, the 4-DDC was useful. Systematic and multidisciplinary neurodevelopmental assessment is needed in these adopted children, for an early intervention to prevent secondary disabilities and therefore optimize children's outcome.

Background Acknowledgement of low-severity/high-prevalence disabilities in infants born preterm singles out the need to identify early markers of brain impairments which could predict these late emergent disabilities. The neurological status as assessed by the Amiel-Tison Neurological Assessments (ATNA) has been proposed as one such potential marker. However, the stability of the ATNA has never been formally assessed. Aim This study aimed to assess the stability of the ATNA. Study design A total of 89 infants born preterm with a gestational age ranging from 29 0/7 to 37 0/7 weeks inclusively and a birth weight below 2500 g were followed during their first two years of life (term age, 4, 8, 12 and 24 months corrected age) in a clinical context. Results Of these, 62 children (69.7%) were classified in the same category on the five assessments while 14 (15.7%) had only one divergent result and 13 (14.6%) had two divergent results over the follow-up. The neurological status throughout the assessments remains stable according to Cochran's Q. Conclusion As the neurological status identified by the ATNA remained stable throughout repeated measurements in a regular clinical context and has been shown to correlate with later developmental performances, it should be included as a criterion to target children at risk and used during follow-up.

Objective To describe when and by whom concern is first expressed for children referred to rehabilitation because of neuromotor problems. Study Design and Setting We conducted a survey of parents of 92 children (aged 0-6 years) who were on the waiting list for physical or occupational therapy services at rehabilitation centers in Montreal, Quebec. We compared age of child at initial concern with who first expressed concern for children who were considered at risk due to their perinatal history of prematurity and those who were not born prematurely but were later diagnosed as having neuromotor problems. Intervention Parents were interviewed regarding their child’s medical history and utilization of health care services. Results Parents were concerned later than physicians were regarding their child’s development (mean difference, 8.2 months; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.7-12.6 months). There was no significant difference in time of recognition of problems between the premature (10.2 months) and full-term (11.9 months) groups. Even after controlling for risk group, parental concern occurred later than physician concern (β coefficient, 7.3; 95% CI, 2.5-12.2). The child’s age at the time of initial concern was associated with the child’s age at referral to rehabilitation (β coefficient, 0.04; 95% CI, 0.01-0.06). Conclusions Early recognition is important if a child is to benefit from early rehabilitation. It may be important to improve primary care screening of children for neuromotor problems and to increase parental awareness regarding normal motor development of their children. Prompt, simultaneous referral to medical evaluation and rehabilitation resources may decrease delays in rehabilitation.