TITLE:
Multisystem Developmental Disorder in Children from 2 to 6 Years Old: A Three Years Follow-Up Study
AUTHORS:
Ester Pla, Rosa M. Galceran, Olga Casas, Ferran Viñas, Júlia Clara Buscató
KEYWORDS:
Multisystem Developmental Disorder (MSDD), Development, Diagnosis, Early Childhood, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.5 No.7,
May
16,
2014
ABSTRACT: This
research studied children who had been diagnosed with Multisystem Developmental
Disorder (MSDD) (NC, 2002) under the Diagnostic
Classifications of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders of Infancy and
Early Childhood (DC: 0 - 3). They all showed, to a varying degree, difficulties
in relating to others, play, affective interaction and severe delay in
developing communication skills. Some studies have observed continuity in the
diagnosis of autism during the first years of life. The objective of this study
is to analyse the development of infants with MSDD whose diagnosis of autism
was not confirmed. We also attempted to verify any possible psychomotor developmental
differences based on, or related to, the severity and typology (B and C) of the
MSDD. To enable us to do this we carried out a 3-year follow-up during which we
assessed the infants (n = 15) and their parents. They are 2 - 4 years old.
Results showed that type B children did present a greater impairment of
psychomotor development in assessment tests. However, we did not observe any
correlation between the degree of severity of the initial symptoms and later
diagnoses. Conclusion: although our sample is small, we can conclude that there
isn’t a clear evolution in the diagnosis, but we have found significant
differences in the symptomatology between the type B and C.