title: Sensory over-responsivity, psychopathology, and family impairment in school-aged children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To establish the diagnostic validity of sensory overresponsivity (SOR), there is a need to document rates of SOR and the co-occurrence of SOR with other psychiatric disorders. Although this was not a diagnostic study of SOR, this study was designed to investigate rates of elevated SOR symptoms and associations between elevated SOR symptoms, psychiatric disorder status, and family impairment.
  
  
  METHODS
  From a larger birth cohort followed from infancy to school age, 338 children aged 7 to 10 years (51% boys, 49% girls) and their parents participated in an intensive assessment. Parents were interviewed with the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC) and completed the SensOR inventory and the Family Life Impairment Scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Approximately one-fifth (21.2%) of children had elevated SOR symptoms. One-fourth (24.3%) of those with an elevated SOR score met criteria for a DSM-IV diagnosis, and 25.4% of children with a DSM-IV diagnosis had an elevated SOR score. Parents of children with elevated SOR alone reported a similar number of restrictions in family life as parents of those with an internalizing and/or externalizing diagnosis. SOR predicted concurrent family impairment above and beyond DSM diagnostic status and socio-demographic risk.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Elevated SOR occurs in the absence of other psychiatric conditions and is associated with impairment in family life. Services for children with comorbid elevated SOR and an externalizing disorder are needed to address the extremely high level of family impairment reported.
authors: Department of Psychology, The University of Massachusetts Boston, 100 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, MA 02125, USA. alice.carter@umb.edu
authors: Alice S
authors: AS
authors: Carter
authors: Ayelet
authors: A
authors: Ben-Sasson
authors: Margaret J
authors: MJ
authors: Briggs-Gowan
mesh_terms: D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D054541:Family Conflict / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D012001:Hyperacusis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D006941:Hyperesthesia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D007223:Infant; D007389:Internal-External Control; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D010552:Personality Assessment; D011599:Psychopathology; D012917:Social Adjustment