Antenatal Training with Music and Maternal Talk Concurrently May Reduce Autistic-Like Behaviors at around 3 Years of Age

Zeng-Liang Ruan,Deng-Li Sun,Guo-Min Wen,Li Liu,Dan-Xia Xian,Li-Jun Fan,Esben Strodl,Xiao-Na Yin,Jin Jing,Yu Jin,Hui Jiang,Wei-Qing Chen,Chuan-An Wu

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2017.00305

Abstract

Antenatal training through music and maternal talk to the unborn fetus is a topic of general interest for parents-to-be in China, but we still lack a comprehensive assessment of their effects on the development of autistic-like behaviors during early childhood. During 2014–2016, 34,749 parents of children around the age of 3 years who were enrolled at kindergarten in the Longhua district of Shenzhen participated in this study. Self-administered questionnaires regarding demographics, antenatal music training, and maternal talk to the fetus during pregnancy were completed by the children’s primary caregivers. Autistic-like behaviors were assessed using the Autism Behavioral Checklist. Tobit regression analyses revealed that antenatal music training and maternal talk to the fetus was associated with a reduction in autistic-like behaviors in children, with a dose-dependent relationship. Furthermore, factorial analysis of covariance indicated a significant interaction effect between antenatal music training and maternal talk to the fetus on the autistic-like behaviors and found that children who often experienced antenatal music training and maternal talk concurrently had the lowest risk of autistic-like behaviors, while children who were never exposed to maternal talk and only sometimes experienced antenatal music training had the highest risk. Our results suggest that antenatal training through both music and maternal talk to the unborn fetus might reduce the risk of children’s autistic-like behaviors at around 3 years of age.

Highlights

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a spectrum of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by deficits in social communication and social interaction along with restricted interests and repetitive or stereotyped patterns of behaviors [1]
Our study found an inverse association between antenatal music training and autistic-like behaviors in young children, which is in accordance with previous studies that children’s functional development may be associated with prenatal experience of music [47]
Music stimulation and maternal talk to fetus might continue even after child birth, which could affect autistic-like behaviors at around 3 years of age, this study did not control for these effects when we evaluated the relationship of the antenatal training of music stimulation and maternal talk to fetus with autistic-like behaviors

Summary

Introduction

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a spectrum of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by deficits in social communication and social interaction along with restricted interests and repetitive or stereotyped patterns of behaviors [1]. Symptoms of ASD may be seen in the first year of life, but are typically recognized in the second year and are often not diagnosed until the age of 3 years. Based on 2014 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ASD afflicted 2.24% of children aged 3–17 years in the United States, and its prevalence increased steadily [4, 5]. In Asian countries, recent surveys revealed that the prevalence of ASD were 0.25, 0.23, 1.81, and 2.64% for China, India, Japan, and Korea, respectively [2, 6,7,8]. In addition to relatively high prevalence rates, ASD can impair quality of life and lead to a high cost for families and society.

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Discussion

Conclusion