Infant Sensory Over-Responsivity: Relations to Early Life Adversity, Emerging Behavioral Problems, and Sensory Functional Connectivity

Background. Sensory over-responsivity (SOR) in mid- to late childhood is associated with early-life adversity (ELA) and psychopathology, yet the developmental origins and timing of these relationships remain unknown. This work leverages a longitudinal pediatric dataset enriched for ELA to characterize predictors and behavioral problems associated with infant/toddler SOR. Methods. Neonatal fMRI and longitudinal behavioral data were obtained from a sample (N=399) recruited during pregnancy and enriched for social disadvantage (SD). Negative binomial regression models were used to identify pre- and neonatal risk factors for and behavioral correlates of SOR at age two (Y2). Mediation analyses tested whether Y2 SOR mediates relationships between ELA and behavioral problems at age three (Y3). Relationships between neonatal functional connectivity (FC) measures and later SOR were also computed. Results. Two forms of prenatal ELA, SD and maternal psychosocial stress (PSS), positively predicted Y2 SOR, which in turn predicted Y2 and Y3 autism and anxiety problems, greater preschool internalizing symptoms, and greater preschool separation anxiety diagnoses. Positive relationships of prenatal PSS with Y3 autism, anxiety, and internalizing problems were partially mediated by Y2 SOR. Greater neonatal FC between the cortical somatomotor hand network and bilateral thalamus was also associated with SOR at one to two years later. Conclusions. The study results demonstrate the importance of infant/toddler SOR as an early predictor of autism and anxiety behaviors in early childhood and a mediating variable that links prenatal ELA with these behavioral outcomes. Results also implicate heightened neonatal signaling in sensory circuits as an early precursor of SOR.