Early Autism Risk Longitudinal Investigation (EARLI)

Sample details

EARLI aimed to investigate the environmental risk factors for developing autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Pregnant women at 28 weeks or less gestation who had an autistic child were recruited from major metropolitan areas across four states, namely Philadelphia, Baltimore, Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area. At baseline, over 170 mother-baby pairs were recruited. The mother was followed through pregnancy and delivery, after which their babies were followed until 36 months after birth.

Study design
Cohort - primary caregiver and child, Cohort - birth

Number of participants at first data collection

177 (mothers)

177 (babies)

Age at first data collection

≥ 18 years (mothers)

Birth (babies)

Participant year of birth

Varied (mothers)

Varied (babies)

Participant sex
All

Representative sample at baseline?
No

Sample features

Newborns, infants and babies

Pregnant people

Dataset details

Country

United States of America

Year of first data collection

2009

Primary Institutions

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) (Healthcare/Medical, United States of America)

Drexel University (Academic, United States of America)

Johns Hopkins University (JHU) (Academic, United States of America)

Kaiser Permanente (Healthcare/Medical, United States of America)

Kennedy Krieger Institute (Healthcare/Medical, United States of America)

Links

earlistudy.org/

nda.nih.gov/edit_collection.html

Profile paper DOI

doi.org/10.1186/1866-1955-4-7

Funders

Autism Centers of Excellence (ACE) (Third Sector, United States of America)

Autism Speaks (Third Sector, United States of America)

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (Government, United States of America)

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) (Government, United States of America)

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) (Government, United States of America)

Ongoing?
No

Data types collected

Quantitative data collection

Activity log (e.g. food, sleep, exercise)
Computer, paper or task testing (e.g. cognitive testing, theory of mind doll task, attention computer tasks)
Interview – face-to-face
Interview – phone
Physical environment assessment (e.g. pollution, mould)
Physical or biological assessment (e.g. blood, saliva, gait, grip strength, anthropometry)
Secondary data
Self-completed questionnaire – paper or computer assisted

Qualitative data collection