Predictors of formal service utilization, waiting list use, and caregiving burden were assessed over a 4-year time period for 305 mothers of an adult child with mental retardation. Predictor variables included: residential status, burden, child behaviors at baseline, child placement; formal service use, co-residence at baseline, waiting list use,…

Background: This study examined the predictors, mediators and moderators of parent stress in families of preschool-aged children with developmental disability. Method: One hundred and five mothers of preschool-aged children with developmental disability completed assessment measures addressing the key variables. Results: Analyses demonstrated that…

Aimed to determine to what degree newborns' auditory brainstem evoked responses (ABRs) predict delayed or impaired development during the first year. When 93 infants' ABRs were evaluated at three, six, and nine months, newborn ABR was moderately sensitive for detecting hearing impairment and more sensitive than other indicators in detecting…

Followup 8 years after reduction of antiepileptic drugs in 50 institutionalized developmentally disabled epileptic patients found recurrence of seizures in 26 patients. Predictors for a seizure-free state off medication included few documented seizures in lifetime, no gross neurological abnormalities, and persistently normal electroencephalograms.…

Comparison of 72 middle and 72 low socioeconomic status (SES) families of infants with developmental disabilities, on measures of maternal stress and infant development, found that regression analyses predicted 81% of the variance in later developmental level from initial Bayley Mental Age, initial Mental Development Index, SES, initial maternal…

The early development of self-injurious behavior (SIB) in 16 young children with developmental disabilities was tracked over an 18-month period. Naturalistic observations in each child's classroom found a significant association between early SIB and low levels of social contact, which may be considered as a risk marker for SIB exacerbation.…

A follow-up study of 268 adolescents was conducted to determine predictors of disabilities. Parental traits were more accurate predictors of adolescent status than the child's own behavior from birth to 3 years, whereas child-centered skills assessed at 4 and 7 years of age were better predictors than familial factors. (Author/JDD)