Background. The developmental cascade framework suggests early delays in one system can impact others. Infants born preterm or with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often show such delays. Methods. The study included 498 infants enrolled in PediaTracTM a novel caregiver-report measure. The convergent validity of PediaTrac with the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3) was examined, along with its ability to predict ASD risk at 18 months using cross-sectional (9- and 12-month) and longitudinal (0–12-month) latent traits of motor (MOT) and social/communication/cognitive (SCG) abilities. Results. Strong convergent validity was found between PediaTrac and ASQ-3 domains at both time points. MOT at 9-months was the strongest predictor of ASD risk while SCG was strongest at 12-months. Longitudinal trajectories provided greater predictive value than cross-sectional scores. Sociodemographic factors—Area Deprivation Index—also significantly predicted ASD risk. Discussion. Findings support PediaTrac as an effective ASD screening tool and emphasize the importance of longitudinal measures to improve ASD detection.
","abstract_html":"<p>Background. The developmental cascade framework suggests early delays in one system can impact others. Infants born preterm or with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often show such delays. Methods. The study included 498 infants enrolled in PediaTracTM a novel caregiver-report measure. The convergent validity of PediaTrac with the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3) was examined, along with its ability to predict ASD risk at 18 months using cross-sectional (9- and 12-month) and longitudinal (0–12-month) latent traits of motor (MOT) and social/communication/cognitive (SCG) abilities. Results. Strong convergent validity was found between PediaTrac and ASQ-3 domains at both time points. MOT at 9-months was the strongest predictor of ASD risk while SCG was strongest at 12-months. Longitudinal trajectories provided greater predictive value than cross-sectional scores. Sociodemographic factors—Area Deprivation Index—also significantly predicted ASD risk. Discussion. Findings support PediaTrac as an effective ASD screening tool and emphasize the importance of longitudinal measures to improve ASD detection.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Krebs, Ryan"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Open Access Thesis","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Angela D. Staples, PhD","Renée Lajiness-O’Neill, PhD","Jin Bo, PhD"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2025-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:17:53Z","subjects":["Clinical Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.emich.edu/theses/1329","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Angela D. Staples, PhD","Renée Lajiness-O’Neill, PhD","Jin Bo, PhD"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Krebs, Ryan"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2026-02-20T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Clinical Psychology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/1329"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Background. The developmental cascade framework suggests early delays in one system can impact others. Infants born preterm or with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often show such delays. Methods. The study included 498 infants enrolled in PediaTracTM a novel caregiver-report measure. The convergent validity of PediaTrac with the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3) was examined, along with its ability to predict ASD risk at 18 months using cross-sectional (9- and 12-month) and longitudinal (0–12-month) latent traits of motor (MOT) and social/communication/cognitive (SCG) abilities. Results. Strong convergent validity was found between PediaTrac and ASQ-3 domains at both time points. MOT at 9-months was the strongest predictor of ASD risk while SCG was strongest at 12-months. Longitudinal trajectories provided greater predictive value than cross-sectional scores. Sociodemographic factors—Area Deprivation Index—also significantly predicted ASD risk. Discussion. Findings support PediaTrac as an effective ASD screening tool and emphasize the importance of longitudinal measures to improve ASD detection.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Predicting 18-month M-CHAT-R/F with PediaTracTMv3.0 motor and social/communication/cognition domains"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Angela D. Staples, PhD","Renée Lajiness-O’Neill, PhD","Jin Bo, PhD"],"dc:creator":["Krebs, Ryan"],"dc:date.available":["2026-02-20T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Background. The developmental cascade framework suggests early delays in one system can impact others. Infants born preterm or with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often show such delays. Methods. The study included 498 infants enrolled in PediaTracTM a novel caregiver-report measure. The convergent validity of PediaTrac with the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3) was examined, along with its ability to predict ASD risk at 18 months using cross-sectional (9- and 12-month) and longitudinal (0–12-month) latent traits of motor (MOT) and social/communication/cognitive (SCG) abilities. Results. Strong convergent validity was found between PediaTrac and ASQ-3 domains at both time points. MOT at 9-months was the strongest predictor of ASD risk while SCG was strongest at 12-months. Longitudinal trajectories provided greater predictive value than cross-sectional scores. Sociodemographic factors—Area Deprivation Index—also significantly predicted ASD risk. Discussion. Findings support PediaTrac as an effective ASD screening tool and emphasize the importance of longitudinal measures to improve ASD detection.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/1329"],"dc:subject":["Clinical Psychology"],"dc:title":["Predicting 18-month M-CHAT-R/F with PediaTracTMv3.0 motor and social/communication/cognition domains"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:17:53Z"}