Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42842174›Full record

ArticleJournal of autism and developmental disorders2026

Infant Attention to Eyes Versus Mouth Varies With Mouth Movement Speed, Family History of Autism and Language Development.

Mary Agyapong, Luke Mason, Jannath Begum Ali, Mark H Johnson, Tony Charman, Emily J H Jones, STAARS Team

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Article in Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Mary AgyapongDepartment of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London, Denmark Hill, London, SE5 8AF, UK. mary.agyapong@kcl.ac.uk.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0745-8711
Luke MasonDepartment of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9978-7349
Jannath Begum AliFaculty of Sciences, Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck College, University of London, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8853-0537
Mark H JohnsonFaculty of Sciences, Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck College, University of London, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4229-2585
Tony CharmanDepartment of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London, Denmark Hill, London, SE5 8AF, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1993-6549
Emily J H JonesFaculty of Sciences, Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck College, University of London, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5747-9540
STAARS Team

Funding

Economic and Social Research Council PR: 1917731Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) Joint Undertaking (115300 and No. 777394, European Union's FP7 and Horizon 2020) 115300Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) Joint Undertaking (115300 and No. 777394, European Union's FP7 and Horizon 2020) No. 777394
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposePatterns of visual attention to faces are mixed in infants with a family history of autism relative to controls. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often co-occurs with autism and could represent one source of variance in findings. Heterogeneity in language skills may represent another source of variance. We investigated longitudinal patterns of attention to eyes and mouths in infants with and without an elevated familial likelihood (EL) of autism and/or ADHD, and examined associations with language development.

methodsThe sample included 160 infants (EL-autism = 79, EL-ADHD = 31, EL-autism+ADHD = 21, Typical Likelihood (TL) of autism and/or ADHD = 29). We measured eye-to-mouth looking ratios of 5, 10 and 14 month olds who viewed pairs of faces with mouths moving at low (1 Hz), medium (6 Hz) and high (10 Hz/15 Hz) temporal frequency. Language skills were measured throughout infancy and at 36 months.

resultsEye looking (relative to mouth) decreased as a function of age and was reduced for speech-like frequencies (6 Hz) compared to slower frequencies. Infants with EL-autism looked more to the eyes than TL infants, but this effect was attenuated in the presence of familial ADHD. Controlling for 14 months word acquisition, higher receptive language at 36 months was associated with greater eye looking.

conclusionOur findings confirm age-related changes in eye-to-mouth looking across development and suggest that variability in familial ADHD and heterogeneity in language skills influence attentional differences in infants with a family history of autism. Future family history studies should investigate this heterogeneity using neurophysiological methods.

Indexed as

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorderAutismEye-trackingInfancyLanguage developmentVisual attention

Identifiers

PMID42842174

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.