Bowler, Aislinn (2024) Early childhood motor skills and later neurodevelopmental, cognitive, and psychiatric outcomes : genetic and phenotypic associations and the potential for digital phenotyping. PhD thesis, Birkbeck, University of London.
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Abstract
Evidence suggests that the first years after birth are important for later development. For example, early motor skills are associated with autism, ADHD, schizophrenia, and multiple cognitive outcomes. However, there are several challenges in measuring these early motor skills with longitudinal designs and with the required valid measures. It is also unclear if there are associations with later outcomes for fine motor skills in particular. The thesis investigated the associations between early motor skills and later outcomes, including neurodevelopmental conditions, psychiatric disorders and traits, and cognition. It aimed to overcome some of the challenges of this field through a range of approaches. Chapter 2 presents a digital phenotyping smartphone app prototype for tracking early motor development. Chapter 3 will present a systematic review and meta-analyses of existing data on motor milestones and motor assessments in infancy and their associations with later diagnoses of neurodevelopmental conditions. Chapter 4 will describe the construction of a fine motor score using data from the longitudinal study, the Twin Early Development Study (TEDS). The chapter will then present a longitudinal multivariate regression analysis between the fine motor composite score and later neurodevelopmental, psychiatric, and cognitive traits from 7-16 years. Finally, Chapter 5 will present polygenic score analyses between the fine motor score and polygenic scores for neurodevelopmental, psychiatric, and cognitive phenotypes. This thesis introduces research and potential methods to overcome measurement issues in an under-researched area. The thesis presents evidence for associations of delayed gross motor milestones across and between neurodevelopmental conditions. Furthermore, phenotypic and genetic associations between early fine motor skills and later neurodevelopmental, psychiatric, and cognitive traits up to age 16 are described. The research findings have implications for considering early motor skills as part of the pathway to later outcomes and for supporting the investigation of the mechanisms involved in these associations.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Thesis |
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| Copyright Holders: | The copyright of this thesis rests with the author, who asserts his/her right to be known as such according to the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988. No dealing with the thesis contrary to the copyright or moral rights of the author is permitted. |
| Depositing User: | Acquisitions And Metadata |
| Date Deposited: | 02 Jan 2025 18:41 |
| Last Modified: | 18 Sep 2025 07:24 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/54773 |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.18743/PUB.00054773 |
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