What is the objective of the project?

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Our objective is to study the processes by which babies, in their first two years of life, develop such important skills as the recognition of faces, voices and speech sounds, as well as skills for social-emotional interaction with adults. Knowing how these skills are displayed in each baby can help us explain individual differences in development. Likewise, this knowledge can allow us to explain the possible differences between babies with and without genetic risk of having ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder).

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What requirements are necessary to participate?

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For the study that we are studying at this moment, we need the participation of families who:

- Have a baby on the way or under 4 months of age.

- They also have (at least) one other child.

- That one of the following conditions applies to the baby's siblings:

     * That at least one sibling has a single diagnosis or suspicion of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

     * That no sibling has a diagnosis of a developmental disorder.

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What will our baby's participation consist of?

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There will be different tasks in which the baby's behavior will be observed and recorded. In some we will analyze where you look while images and sounds are presented to you on a screen. Other times, we will record you playing with the family member who accompanies you or with an evaluator. At 24 months we will ask you for a home video in which we can see your children playing in their usual environment.

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What will our participation as a family consist of?

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You will be with your baby at all times. In some tasks we will ask you to just sit with him, in others that you play together as you usually do at home. It is important that for these tasks the baby is always accompanied by the same reference person. We will also send you links to online questionnaires for you to fill out and we will ask you some questions about their development and that of their siblings.

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What do we have to do to participate?

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To start your participation, please, click here .

We thank you very much for your collaboration.

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What materials are used?

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The registration of the baby's eye movements is made by means of a system that collects the direction and time of fixation of his gaze ( eye-tracker ). The baby will be sitting on your relative's lap and we will place a screen in front of him. No appliance will touch the baby.

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Video cameras will also be used to record moments of the baby's play with your family member or with the evaluator.

Finally, there will be toys appropriate to their age that have all the required quality controls, which are sanitized before each session.

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Can we be with our baby all the time?

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Of course. In fact, all testing sessions require the presence of a family member.  

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Are there any risks or discomfort for our baby if we participate?

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Not at all.  None of the tasks pose any danger or discomfort to the baby or family members. Homework involves watching videos, listening to music, or playing with toys.

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What are the possible benefits of participating?

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You can have more information about the development of your baby. The pediatrician is already giving you the percentiles in height, weight, watching the diet and sleep patterns ... With your participation you can also learn about their evolution in communication, social and motor development. In addition, you will contribute to the improvement of the knowledge we have about child development and with this we also hope to help provide better support to babies who have different evolutionary trajectories.

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When and how many times do I have to go?

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We will meet when the baby is 4, 8, 12, 18 and 24 months. In each of these five moments you will have to go twice, with the exception of 18 months, where we will ask you to attend 3 visits. For this we will set appointments with you, trying to adapt to your availability (morning or afternoon).  

At 30 months of your baby, we will do a remote monitoring online and by phone.

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Are the evaluations the exact day that our baby is one month old?

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Not necessarily. It will be tried that they are on dates close to that day, with a margin of fifteen days (two weeks after the date). We will adjust the two sessions to your calendars and personal situations, so that they are as close to the moment when your baby turns 4, 8, 12, 18, 24 months but at the same time it is comfortable for you.

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How long are the evaluation sessions?

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We want to carry out the evaluation in the best possible conditions, so each evaluation session will be adjusted to the needs of each family.  Of course, the times of rest, feeding, cleaning, etc., will be respected, so that the duration of each session may vary. We estimate that the implementation of all the planned activities (tasks with the baby and collection of information about their development), with possible breaks, will last approximately two hours each day. However, it is difficult to be completely sure of the time since it will depend on the rest times you need.

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In babies this young, what if my baby is tired, asleep, hungry, or I need to change?

The most important thing to us is the well-being of the baby and his family. If the baby is tired, hungry, sleepy, etc. it is not necessary to pass any test. When the time is good, the evaluation will be carried out.  There is a space for the baby to rest, feed and change diapers.  There is also a waiting room (also games room) for the family.

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Where are the evaluations carried out?

They are carried out in dependencies of the Autonomous University of Madrid (located in the University City of Cantoblanco, Carretera de Colmenar Viejo, 28049 Madrid). - here link to map.

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If our baby falls ill on the scheduled date of the evaluation, what do we have to do?

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We would appreciate if you let us know as soon as possible in that case and we will look for another date that will come in handy for you to come when the baby is well. The fastest thing is to send us a whatsapp: 651 97 17 52.

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Can our other children join us?

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Of course, we will be happy to receive them as well. A person from the team will be able to be with him / her in the waiting room -game room- during his / her sibling's evaluations.

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* Currently, due to the health prevention measures against COVID-19, we cannot offer you this possibility.  

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How will the privacy of our child's results be protected?

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All data collected in this project - in accordance with Organic Law 15/1999 of December 13 on Protection of personal data - will be treated confidentially with a reversible coding system which can only be accessed by the researcher main of this project. All materials and documents related to the results of the study will be kept in protected files to which only the researchers conducting this study will have access. All the processes of evaluation, registration, analysis, results, data custody, and publication of results have been approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Autonomous University of Madrid.

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What is done with the data from the logs and video recordings?

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Both the records of the various tasks and the videos of the sessions, only have access to the research team of this project, who have signed a confidentiality commitment.

Once the project is finished, if you wish, we will provide you with a copy of the video recordings of your baby.

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Once started, can we unsubscribe from the project?

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Of course. Your participation is voluntary throughout the process, being able to interrupt it whenever you wish.

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Will you give us any information on the results of our baby?

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You will be given a brief individual report with the results of your baby in each of the six evaluation moments (4, 8, 12, 18, 24 and 30 months). This will be informative, never diagnostic.

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If in the development of the project you observe that our baby has some difficulty, will you let us know?  

The purpose of the project is not to detect development difficulties.

However, if we detect a different functioning than usual in some area of your baby's development, we will inform you immediately and you will be guided on the possible actions (wait, observe, stimulate, refer to a specialist ...).

Given that the tasks that will be used in the different Traberitea sessions do not involve a diagnostic evaluation, those children in whom we observe difficulties will have to be referred to specialized services to receive an adequate diagnostic evaluation.

If during the process you want to ask us any questions in this regard, all the professionals of the research team will be at your disposal.

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Who can we contact if we have doubts or any other question regarding this project?

To learn more about this project, you can write to us at the email address: traberitea@uam.es.

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Who finances this project?

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This project is funded by the Autonomous University of Madrid, the Community of Madrid and the Ministry of Education and Science. PSI2015-66509-P (MINECO / FEDER). With a resolution of granting of May 6, 2016 from the Secretary of State for Research, Development and Innovation, of aid for carrying out research projects within the State Program for the Promotion of Scientific and Technical Research of Excellence, State Subprogram for Generation of Knowledge, call 2015, modality 1: R&D projects, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

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Who develops this project?

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We are a large team of researchers and professionals in Psychology. For more detailed information, we encourage you to visit the "Who are we?"

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Who has approved the research?

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This study has been specifically reviewed and approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Autonomous University of Madrid.

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​ What prevention measures are you taking against COVID-19?

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You can check our protocol for safe evaluations here .

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Thank you for taking the time to read this information and for considering the possibility of participating in this study.

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