Abstracts

Rationale: Children with neurodevelopmental disabilities are at increased risk for adverse behavioral outcomes. Data from Canada’s National Longitudinal Study of Children and Youth Survey (NLSCY) includes information on behavioral profiles of children reporting a neurodevelopmental disability in the survey.  Methods: We analyzed data from 3 cycles of Canada’s National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth to assess the relationship of neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDD) (epilepsy [Epi], cerebral palsy [CP], intellectual disability [ID]) to composite measures of behavior (2-or 3-year-olds): hyperactivity-inattention (HI); pro-social behaviors (PS); emotional anxiety (EA); physical aggression, oppositional behavior (AO); and separation anxiety (SA). Mean scaled scores were compared using ANOVA. and the interaction through post hoc analysis of F scores (Tukeys). Results: There were 15 children with Epi, 26 with CP, and 37 with ID in a sample of 10,879 respondents (1998-99). Males (51.2 %) and females (48.8 %) represented a population of 756,848 children. Comparison of mean scores for these NDD and a control group (ANOVA) indicate all measures had at least one mean that was indicated as statistically significant difference ( p‹0.001).  Post hoc analysis (Tukeys) showed significant intragroup differences in mean behavior scale scores, e.g., children with Epi and ID had higher EA scores, while ID and CP had lower PS scores. The ID group had significantly higher scores in SA in comparison to controls. Conclusions: Children with neurodevelopmental disabilities show differences in behavioral outcomes at a very early age when compared to normal children. Screening for these behaviors and early intervention programs may help address longer term psychiatric–comorbidity associated with these disabilities. Funding: Supported by the EPLINK team grant funded by the Ontario Brain Institute (OBI). ANP is the Principal Investigator for this project  Access to the NLSCY microdata files was granted through an application to the CISS-Access to the RDC’s Program. While the research and analysis are based on data from Statistics Canada, the opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the views of Statistics Canada.