Analysis of the differences in temperament characteristics between toddlers with autism spectrum disorders, developmental delays and neuro-typical children

Objective To compare the temperament characteristics between 16-30 months toddlers with autism spectrum disorders(ASD), developmental delay(DD) and neuro-typical(NT) children, so as to provide a theoretical basis for early personalized intervention for children with developmental disorders.Methods Toddlers who visited the Child Developmental and Behavioral Center and the Child Health Care Clinic of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University were recruited as the research subjects from April 2017 to April 2018. A total of 60 toddlers in the ASD group and 31 toddlers in the DD group were enrolled, and 40 toddlers in the NT group were matched according to age and gender. The "China Toddler Temperament Scale(CTTS) " and the "China Children's Temperament Questions Test System(CCTPSs 5.1) " were used to compare temperament types and the characteristics of each dimension between 3 groups.Results The three groups of toddlers differed significantly only in the respect of "easy" type temperament. The ASD group(25.0%) had a lower proportion of "easy" types than the DD(41.9%) and NT(52.5%) groups did, while the difference between the DD and NT group were not statistically significant(P>0.05). Toddlers in the ASD group had higher score in dimensions of rhythmicity, mindfulness, and persistence than that of children in the NT group, while they had lower score in attentional distraction. Compared with the DD group, the ASD group had a lower attentional distraction score(P<0.05), while the differences in rhythmicity, mindfulness, and persistence were not statistically significant(all P>0.05). There was no significant difference in scores of all temperament dimensions between DD and NT group(all P>0.05). Conclusion Toddlers with ASD present different temperament characteristics compared with NT and DD toddlers. Scientific individualized intervention or education program should be developed for them to focus on their characteristics, especially low attentional distraction.