Mei-Ni Hsiao, Yi-Ling Chien, Yueh-Ming Tai, Heng-Man Chen, Hsien-Hsueh Shih, Li-Wei Chen, Yu-Ying Chen, Wei-Tsuen Soong, Yen-Nan Chiu, Wen-Che Tsai, Elizabeth Laugeson, Mei-Hui Tseng, Susan Shur-Fen Gau
Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often experience lifelong social communication challenges and are more vulnerable to school bullying. Addressing their social difficulties and school bullying requires evidence-based interventions. PEERS® (Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills) was adapted and translated for Taiwanese adolescents. This randomized controlled study aimed to examine the effectiveness of the Taiwanese version of PEERS® in reducing school bullying and enhancing social function among autistic adolescents. Twenty-one autistic adolescents (mean age 14.29 ± 1.67 years; female n = 733.33%) were randomized to a treatment group (TG, n = 10) or a delayed treatment control group (DTG, n = 11). The outcome measures (school bullying, social challenges, social skills knowledge, and social skills performance) were assessed at baseline, post-treatment, and follow-up. The group and time interaction analyses revealed greater magnitudes of reduction in general school bullying (p < 0.001), victimization (p < 0.001), perpetration (p = 0.012), social challenges (p = 0.001), and peer conflicts (p < 0.001), and improvement in social knowledge (p < 0.001) in the TG group than the DTG group. The findings suggest that the PEERS® program tailored for Taiwanese adolescents is effective in reducing school bullying, decreasing social challenges, and enhancing social skills among autistic adolescents, with very large effect sizes (Cohen's d ranging from 1.19 to 2.88). Consequently, participation in the PEERS® program is recommended for adolescents with social difficulties to improve their social communication and interactions to offset school bullying and other social challenges related to adverse outcomes.
患有自闭症谱系障碍(ASD)的人通常会终生面临社交沟通方面的挑战,而且更容易受到校园欺凌。要解决他们的社交障碍和校园欺凌问题,需要采取循证干预措施。PEERS® (Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills)经过改编和翻译,适用于台湾青少年。这项随机对照研究旨在考察台湾版 PEERS® 在减少自闭症青少年校园欺凌和增强其社会功能方面的效果。21名自闭症青少年(平均年龄14.29 ± 1.67岁;女性n = 733.33%)被随机分配到治疗组(TG,n = 10)或延迟治疗对照组(DTG,n = 11)。结果测量(校园欺凌、社交挑战、社交技能知识和社交技能表现)分别在基线、治疗后和随访时进行评估。小组与时间的交互作用分析表明,一般校园欺凌的减少幅度更大(p
{"title":"A preliminary randomized controlled study of the PEERS® program for Taiwanese autistic adolescents: The effectiveness on reducing school bullying and enhancing social function","authors":"Mei-Ni Hsiao, Yi-Ling Chien, Yueh-Ming Tai, Heng-Man Chen, Hsien-Hsueh Shih, Li-Wei Chen, Yu-Ying Chen, Wei-Tsuen Soong, Yen-Nan Chiu, Wen-Che Tsai, Elizabeth Laugeson, Mei-Hui Tseng, Susan Shur-Fen Gau","doi":"10.1002/aur.3213","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.3213","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often experience lifelong social communication challenges and are more vulnerable to school bullying. Addressing their social difficulties and school bullying requires evidence-based interventions. PEERS® (Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills) was adapted and translated for Taiwanese adolescents. This randomized controlled study aimed to examine the effectiveness of the Taiwanese version of PEERS® in reducing school bullying and enhancing social function among autistic adolescents. Twenty-one autistic adolescents (mean age 14.29 ± 1.67 years; female <i>n</i> = 733.33%) were randomized to a treatment group (TG, <i>n</i> = 10) or a delayed treatment control group (DTG, <i>n</i> = 11). The outcome measures (school bullying, social challenges, social skills knowledge, and social skills performance) were assessed at baseline, post-treatment, and follow-up. The group and time interaction analyses revealed greater magnitudes of reduction in general school bullying (<i>p</i> < 0.001), victimization (<i>p</i> < 0.001), perpetration (<i>p</i> = 0.012), social challenges (<i>p</i> = 0.001), and peer conflicts (<i>p</i> < 0.001), and improvement in social knowledge (<i>p</i> < 0.001) in the TG group than the DTG group. The findings suggest that the PEERS® program tailored for Taiwanese adolescents is effective in reducing school bullying, decreasing social challenges, and enhancing social skills among autistic adolescents, with very large effect sizes (Cohen's <i>d</i> ranging from 1.19 to 2.88). Consequently, participation in the PEERS® program is recommended for adolescents with social difficulties to improve their social communication and interactions to offset school bullying and other social challenges related to adverse outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2024-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142019802","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Emily F. Ferguson, Emily Spackman, Ru Ying Cai, Antonio Y. Hardan, Mirko Uljarević
There is a paucity of research that explores associations between emotion dysregulation and the expression and severity of core and co-occurring characteristics of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), especially in autistic youth with co-occurring intellectual disability (ID). This study explored the interplay between developmental characteristics and emotion dysregulation, anxiety, and specific subtypes of RRBs that are elevated in autistic youth with co-occurring ID. Generalized additive models demonstrated that age, sex, language level, dysregulation, and anxiety showed unique patterns of association with subtypes of RRBs in a sample of 150 autistic youth with co-occurring ID who are non-speaking or minimally verbal. More specifically, higher anxiety levels were significantly associated with elevations in repetitive sensory motor behaviors (RSMB), self-injurious behaviors (SIB), insistence on sameness (IS), and unusual interests (UI). While emotion dysregulation was a significant predictor of UI, it demonstrated positive, albeit not significant, associations with the intensity of SIB and RSMB. Language level was a significant predictor of RSMB, such that the intensity of RSMB was higher for individuals who were non-speaking relative to those who spoke in single words. These findings provide preliminary insights into patterns of associations between emotion dysregulation, anxiety, and specific subdomains of RRBs in autistic youth with ID.
{"title":"Characterizing associations between emotion dysregulation, anxiety, and repetitive behaviors in autistic youth with intellectual disability","authors":"Emily F. Ferguson, Emily Spackman, Ru Ying Cai, Antonio Y. Hardan, Mirko Uljarević","doi":"10.1002/aur.3207","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.3207","url":null,"abstract":"<p>There is a paucity of research that explores associations between emotion dysregulation and the expression and severity of core and co-occurring characteristics of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), especially in autistic youth with co-occurring intellectual disability (ID). This study explored the interplay between developmental characteristics and emotion dysregulation, anxiety, and specific subtypes of RRBs that are elevated in autistic youth with co-occurring ID. Generalized additive models demonstrated that age, sex, language level, dysregulation, and anxiety showed unique patterns of association with subtypes of RRBs in a sample of 150 autistic youth with co-occurring ID who are non-speaking or minimally verbal. More specifically, higher anxiety levels were significantly associated with elevations in repetitive sensory motor behaviors (RSMB), self-injurious behaviors (SIB), insistence on sameness (IS), and unusual interests (UI). While emotion dysregulation was a significant predictor of UI, it demonstrated positive, albeit not significant, associations with the intensity of SIB and RSMB. Language level was a significant predictor of RSMB, such that the intensity of RSMB was higher for individuals who were non-speaking relative to those who spoke in single words. These findings provide preliminary insights into patterns of associations between emotion dysregulation, anxiety, and specific subdomains of RRBs in autistic youth with ID.</p>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2024-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142010029","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Minimally verbal children constitute a portion of the autism spectrum. The paucity of proper measurement tools that sensitively and accurately assess behaviors has been one limiting factor in the improved knowledge of these children. Short of creating and validating a new measurement tool for this subpopulation, this study took an alternative and more immediate approach: conduct a secondary data analysis and examine an existing social communication measure, the Early Social Communication Scales (ESCS), with item response theory. The final sample consisted of 453 minimally verbal children culled from four different completed studies. The IRT models analyzed the frequency of social communication gestures from the ESCS and returned an objective difficulty hierarchy regarding initiations of joint attention and behavior regulation gestures. The best-fitting and final model was a zero-inflated negative binomial model (ZINBM), which determined that joint attention gestures were, on average, more difficult than behavior regulation gestures. Joint attentional shows and gives were essentially absent in the children's repertoire, and behavior regulation reaches were the easiest gestures for this sample. The ZINBM separately modeled children with some gestures and children who did not present with any gestures and determined that behavior regulation reaches and gives were likely the first gestures a child will eventually exhibit among children with no gestures. Methodological contributions and potential future applications of IRT are discussed.
{"title":"Characterizing social communication among minimally verbal children with autism: An application of item response theory","authors":"Andrew Schlink, Connie Kasari","doi":"10.1002/aur.3218","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.3218","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Minimally verbal children constitute a portion of the autism spectrum. The paucity of proper measurement tools that sensitively and accurately assess behaviors has been one limiting factor in the improved knowledge of these children. Short of creating and validating a new measurement tool for this subpopulation, this study took an alternative and more immediate approach: conduct a secondary data analysis and examine an existing social communication measure, the Early Social Communication Scales (ESCS), with item response theory. The final sample consisted of 453 minimally verbal children culled from four different completed studies. The IRT models analyzed the frequency of social communication gestures from the ESCS and returned an objective difficulty hierarchy regarding initiations of joint attention and behavior regulation gestures. The best-fitting and final model was a zero-inflated negative binomial model (ZINBM), which determined that joint attention gestures were, on average, more difficult than behavior regulation gestures. Joint attentional shows and gives were essentially absent in the children's repertoire, and behavior regulation reaches were the easiest gestures for this sample. The ZINBM separately modeled children with some gestures and children who did not present with any gestures and determined that behavior regulation reaches and gives were likely the first gestures a child will eventually exhibit among children with no gestures. Methodological contributions and potential future applications of IRT are discussed.</p>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2024-08-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141997003","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Leena Elbedour, Rewaa Balaum, Einav Alhozyel, Gal Meiri, Dikla Zigdon, Analya Michaelovski, Orly Kerub, Idan Menashe
Breastfeeding is associated with medical and developmental benefits. This study aimed to assess associations between nutritional patterns in the first year of life and the likelihood of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). 270 children diagnosed with ASD (cases) and 500 neurotypical children (controls) matched to cases by sex, ethnicity, and birth date (± 3 months) were included in this retrospective case–control study. Both groups were ascertained from children born between 2014 and 2017 whose development/nutrition were monitored at mother–child health clinics in southern Israel. Conditional logistic regression was used to determine the independent association of nutritional patterns with ASD while adjusting for socio-demographic and clinical characteristics. Both exclusive and partial breastfeeding modes were associated with decreased odds of ASD diagnosis (aOR = 0.221, 95%CI = 0.136–0.360; aOR = 0.494, 95%CI = 0.328–0.743, respectively). A breastfeeding duration of >12 months was associated with lower ASD odds (aOR = 0.418, 95%CI = 0.204–0.855), while the introduction of solids after 6 months of age was associated with higher ASD odds than the introduction of solids at 6 months (aOR = 2.455, 95%CI = 1.116–4.201). These findings suggest that a longer period of exclusive breastfeeding is associated with a subsequent reduced likelihood of ASD diagnosis, thus reiterating the importance of proper post-natal nutrition for infant neurodevelopment.
{"title":"Breastfeeding patterns in infants are associated with a later diagnosis of autism Spectrum disorder","authors":"Leena Elbedour, Rewaa Balaum, Einav Alhozyel, Gal Meiri, Dikla Zigdon, Analya Michaelovski, Orly Kerub, Idan Menashe","doi":"10.1002/aur.3211","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.3211","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Breastfeeding is associated with medical and developmental benefits. This study aimed to assess associations between nutritional patterns in the first year of life and the likelihood of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). 270 children diagnosed with ASD (cases) and 500 neurotypical children (controls) matched to cases by sex, ethnicity, and birth date (± 3 months) were included in this retrospective case–control study. Both groups were ascertained from children born between 2014 and 2017 whose development/nutrition were monitored at mother–child health clinics in southern Israel. Conditional logistic regression was used to determine the independent association of nutritional patterns with ASD while adjusting for socio-demographic and clinical characteristics. Both exclusive and partial breastfeeding modes were associated with decreased odds of ASD diagnosis (aOR = 0.221, 95%CI = 0.136–0.360; aOR = 0.494, 95%CI = 0.328–0.743, respectively). A breastfeeding duration of >12 months was associated with lower ASD odds (aOR = 0.418, 95%CI = 0.204–0.855), while the introduction of solids after 6 months of age was associated with higher ASD odds than the introduction of solids at 6 months (aOR = 2.455, 95%CI = 1.116–4.201). These findings suggest that a longer period of exclusive breastfeeding is associated with a subsequent reduced likelihood of ASD diagnosis, thus reiterating the importance of proper post-natal nutrition for infant neurodevelopment.</p>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2024-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aur.3211","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141903750","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Bang Du, Wenjun Zhang, Liu Chen, Xiaorui Deng, Kaiyun Li, Fengxun Lin, Fanlu Jia, Shuhua Su, Wanzhi Tang
How well autistic children can imitate movements and how their brain activity synchronizes with the person they are imitating have been understudied. The current study adopted functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning and employed a task involving real interactions involving meaningful and meaningless movement imitation to explore the fundamental nature of imitation as a dynamic and interactive process. Experiment 1 explored meaningful and meaningless gesture imitation. The results revealed that autistic children exhibited lower imitation accuracy and behavioral synchrony than non-autistic children when imitating both meaningful and meaningless gestures. Specifically, compared to non-autistic children, autistic children displayed significantly higher interpersonal neural synchronization (INS) in the right inferior parietal lobule (r-IPL) (channel 12) when imitating meaningful gestures but lower INS when imitating meaningless gestures. Experiment 2 further investigated the imitation of four types of meaningless movements (orofacial movements, transitive movements, limb movements, and gestures). The results revealed that across all four movement types, autistic children exhibited significantly lower imitation accuracy, behavioral synchrony, and INS in the r-IPL (channel 12) than non-autistic children. This study is the first to identify INS as a biomarker of movement imitation difficulties in autistic individuals. Furthermore, an intra- and interindividual imitation mechanism model was proposed to explain the underlying causes of movement imitation difficulties in autistic individuals.
自闭症儿童的动作模仿能力如何,以及他们的大脑活动如何与模仿对象同步,这些问题一直未得到充分研究。本研究采用了功能性近红外光谱(fNIRS)超扫描技术,并使用了涉及有意义和无意义动作模仿的真实互动任务,以探索模仿作为动态互动过程的基本性质。实验 1 探讨了有意义和无意义的手势模仿。结果显示,在模仿有意义和无意义手势时,自闭症儿童的模仿准确性和行为同步性均低于非自闭症儿童。具体而言,与非自闭症儿童相比,自闭症儿童在模仿有意义手势时,右侧顶叶下叶(r-IPL)(通道 12)的人际神经同步性(INS)明显较高,但在模仿无意义手势时,INS 则较低。实验 2 进一步研究了四种无意义动作(口部动作、转体动作、肢体动作和手势)的模仿。结果发现,在所有四种动作类型中,自闭症儿童的模仿准确性、行为同步性和 r-IPL(通道 12)的 INS 都明显低于非自闭症儿童。本研究首次发现 INS 是自闭症儿童动作模仿困难的生物标记。此外,该研究还提出了个体内和个体间模仿机制模型,以解释自闭症儿童动作模仿困难的根本原因。
{"title":"Higher or lower? Interpersonal behavioral and neural synchronization of movement imitation in autistic children","authors":"Bang Du, Wenjun Zhang, Liu Chen, Xiaorui Deng, Kaiyun Li, Fengxun Lin, Fanlu Jia, Shuhua Su, Wanzhi Tang","doi":"10.1002/aur.3205","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.3205","url":null,"abstract":"<p>How well autistic children can imitate movements and how their brain activity synchronizes with the person they are imitating have been understudied. The current study adopted functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning and employed a task involving real interactions involving meaningful and meaningless movement imitation to explore the fundamental nature of imitation as a dynamic and interactive process. Experiment 1 explored meaningful and meaningless gesture imitation. The results revealed that autistic children exhibited lower imitation accuracy and behavioral synchrony than non-autistic children when imitating both meaningful and meaningless gestures. Specifically, compared to non-autistic children, autistic children displayed significantly higher interpersonal neural synchronization (INS) in the right inferior parietal lobule (r-IPL) (channel 12) when imitating meaningful gestures but lower INS when imitating meaningless gestures. Experiment 2 further investigated the imitation of four types of meaningless movements (orofacial movements, transitive movements, limb movements, and gestures). The results revealed that across all four movement types, autistic children exhibited significantly lower imitation accuracy, behavioral synchrony, and INS in the r-IPL (channel 12) than non-autistic children. This study is the first to identify INS as a biomarker of movement imitation difficulties in autistic individuals. Furthermore, an intra- and interindividual imitation mechanism model was proposed to explain the underlying causes of movement imitation difficulties in autistic individuals.</p>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2024-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141908840","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Adeline Lacroix, Sylvain Harquel, Leonardo S. Barbosa, Klara Kovarski, Marta I. Garrido, Laurent Vercueil, Louise Kauffmann, Frédéric Dutheil, Marie Gomot, Martial Mermillod
Face processing relies on predictive processes driven by low spatial frequencies (LSF) that convey coarse information prior to fine information conveyed by high spatial frequencies. However, autistic individuals might have atypical predictive processes, contributing to facial processing difficulties. This may be more normalized in autistic females, who often exhibit better socio-communicational abilities than males. We hypothesized that autistic females would display a more typical coarse-to-fine processing for socio-emotional stimuli compared to autistic males. To test this hypothesis, we asked adult participants (44 autistic, 51 non-autistic) to detect fearful faces among neutral faces, filtered in two orders: from coarse-to-fine (CtF) and from fine-to-coarse (FtC). Results show lower d’ values and longer reaction times for fearful detection in autism compared to non-autistic (NA) individuals, regardless of the filtering order. Both groups presented shorter P100 latency after CtF compared to FtC, and larger amplitude for N170 after FtC compared to CtF. However, autistic participants presented a reduced difference in source activity between CtF and FtC in the fusiform. There was also a more spatially spread activation pattern in autistic females compared to NA females. Finally, females had faster P100 and N170 latencies, as well as larger occipital activation for FtC sequences than males, irrespective of the group. Overall, the results do not suggest impaired predictive processes from LSF in autism despite behavioral differences in fear detection. However, they do indicate reduced brain modulation by spatial frequency in autism. In addition, the findings highlight sex differences that warrant consideration in understanding autistic females.
{"title":"Reduced spatial frequency differentiation and sex-related specificities in fearful face detection in autism: Insights from EEG and the predictive brain model","authors":"Adeline Lacroix, Sylvain Harquel, Leonardo S. Barbosa, Klara Kovarski, Marta I. Garrido, Laurent Vercueil, Louise Kauffmann, Frédéric Dutheil, Marie Gomot, Martial Mermillod","doi":"10.1002/aur.3209","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.3209","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Face processing relies on predictive processes driven by low spatial frequencies (LSF) that convey coarse information prior to fine information conveyed by high spatial frequencies. However, autistic individuals might have atypical predictive processes, contributing to facial processing difficulties. This may be more normalized in autistic females, who often exhibit better socio-communicational abilities than males. We hypothesized that autistic females would display a more typical coarse-to-fine processing for socio-emotional stimuli compared to autistic males. To test this hypothesis, we asked adult participants (44 autistic, 51 non-autistic) to detect fearful faces among neutral faces, filtered in two orders: from coarse-to-fine (CtF) and from fine-to-coarse (FtC). Results show lower <i>d’</i> values and longer reaction times for fearful detection in autism compared to non-autistic (NA) individuals, regardless of the filtering order. Both groups presented shorter P100 latency after CtF compared to FtC, and larger amplitude for N170 after FtC compared to CtF. However, autistic participants presented a reduced difference in source activity between CtF and FtC in the fusiform. There was also a more spatially spread activation pattern in autistic females compared to NA females. Finally, females had faster P100 and N170 latencies, as well as larger occipital activation for FtC sequences than males, irrespective of the group. Overall, the results do not suggest impaired predictive processes from LSF in autism despite behavioral differences in fear detection. However, they do indicate reduced brain modulation by spatial frequency in autism. In addition, the findings highlight sex differences that warrant consideration in understanding autistic females.</p>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2024-08-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aur.3209","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141876804","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tianbi Li, Jean Decety, Zihui Hua, Guoxiang Li, Li Yi
Different empathic responses are often reported in autism but remain controversial. To investigate which component of empathy is most affected by autism, we examined the affective, cognitive, and motivational components of empathy in 25 5- to 8-year-old autistic and 27 neurotypical children. Participants were presented with visual stimuli depicting people's limbs in painful or nonpainful situations while their eye movements, pupillary responses, and verbal ratings of pain intensity and empathic concern were recorded. The results indicate an emotional overarousal and reduced empathic concern to others' pain in autism. Compared with neurotypical children, autistic children displayed larger pupil dilation accompanied by attentional avoidance to others' pain. Moreover, even though autistic children rated others in painful situations as painful, they felt less sorry than neurotypical children. Interestingly, autistic children felt more sorry in nonpainful situations compared with neurotypical children. These findings demonstrated an emotional overarousal in response to others' pain in autistic children, and provide important implications for clinical practice aiming to promote socio-emotional understanding in autistic children.
{"title":"Empathy in autistic children: Emotional overarousal in response to others' physical pain","authors":"Tianbi Li, Jean Decety, Zihui Hua, Guoxiang Li, Li Yi","doi":"10.1002/aur.3200","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.3200","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Different empathic responses are often reported in autism but remain controversial. To investigate which component of empathy is most affected by autism, we examined the affective, cognitive, and motivational components of empathy in 25 5- to 8-year-old autistic and 27 neurotypical children. Participants were presented with visual stimuli depicting people's limbs in painful or nonpainful situations while their eye movements, pupillary responses, and verbal ratings of pain intensity and empathic concern were recorded. The results indicate an emotional overarousal and reduced empathic concern to others' pain in autism. Compared with neurotypical children, autistic children displayed larger pupil dilation accompanied by attentional avoidance to others' pain. Moreover, even though autistic children rated others in painful situations as painful, they felt less sorry than neurotypical children. Interestingly, autistic children felt more sorry in nonpainful situations compared with neurotypical children. These findings demonstrated an emotional overarousal in response to others' pain in autistic children, and provide important implications for clinical practice aiming to promote socio-emotional understanding in autistic children.</p>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141861795","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a widely recognized neurodevelopmental disorder, yet the identification of reliable imaging biomarkers for its early diagnosis remains a challenge. Considering the specific manifestations of ASD in the eyes and the interconnectivity between the brain and the eyes, this study investigates ASD through the lens of retinal analysis. We specifically examined differences in the macular region of the retina using optical coherence tomography (OCT)/optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) images between children diagnosed with ASD and those with typical development (TD). Our findings present potential novel characteristics of ASD: the thickness of the ellipsoid zone (EZ) with cone photoreceptors was significantly increased in ASD; the large-caliber arteriovenous of the inner retina was significantly reduced in ASD; these changes in the EZ and arteriovenous were more significant in the left eye than in the right eye. These observations of photoreceptor alterations, vascular function changes, and lateralization phenomena in ASD warrant further investigation, and we hope that this work can advance interdisciplinary understanding of ASD.
{"title":"Exploring autism via the retina: Comparative insights in children with autism spectrum disorder and typical development","authors":"Mingchao Li, Yuexuan Wang, Huiyun Gao, Zhengwang Xia, Chaofan Zeng, Kun Huang, Zhaoqi Zhu, Jianfeng Lu, Qiang Chen, Xiaoyan Ke, Weiwei Zhang","doi":"10.1002/aur.3204","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.3204","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a widely recognized neurodevelopmental disorder, yet the identification of reliable imaging biomarkers for its early diagnosis remains a challenge. Considering the specific manifestations of ASD in the eyes and the interconnectivity between the brain and the eyes, this study investigates ASD through the lens of retinal analysis. We specifically examined differences in the macular region of the retina using optical coherence tomography (OCT)/optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) images between children diagnosed with ASD and those with typical development (TD). Our findings present potential novel characteristics of ASD: the thickness of the ellipsoid zone (EZ) with cone photoreceptors was significantly increased in ASD; the large-caliber arteriovenous of the inner retina was significantly reduced in ASD; these changes in the EZ and arteriovenous were more significant in the left eye than in the right eye. These observations of photoreceptor alterations, vascular function changes, and lateralization phenomena in ASD warrant further investigation, and we hope that this work can advance interdisciplinary understanding of ASD.</p>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2024-07-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141794099","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Although numerous studies have emphasized the male predominance in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), how sex differences are related to the topological organization of functional networks remains unclear. This study utilized imaging data from 86 ASD (43 females, aged 7–18 years) and 86 typically developing controls (TCs) (43 females, aged 7–18 years) obtained from Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange databases, constructed individual whole-brain functional networks, used a graph theory analysis to compute topological metrics, and assessed sex-related differences in topological metrics using a 2 × 2 factorial design. At the global level, females with ASD exhibited significantly higher cluster coefficient and local efficiency than female TCs, while no significant difference was observed between males with ASD and male TCs. Meanwhile, the neurotypical sex differences in cluster coefficient and local efficiency observed in TCs were not present in ASD. At the nodal level, ASD exhibited abnormal nodal centrality in the left middle temporal gyrus.
{"title":"Sex-related patterns of functional brain networks in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder","authors":"Cuicui Li, Jingxuan Wang, Yunna Zhou, Tong Li, Baolin Wu, Xianshun Yuan, Lin Li, Rui Qin, Hongzhu Liu, Linglong Chen, Ximing Wang","doi":"10.1002/aur.3180","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.3180","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Although numerous studies have emphasized the male predominance in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), how sex differences are related to the topological organization of functional networks remains unclear. This study utilized imaging data from 86 ASD (43 females, aged 7–18 years) and 86 typically developing controls (TCs) (43 females, aged 7–18 years) obtained from Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange databases, constructed individual whole-brain functional networks, used a graph theory analysis to compute topological metrics, and assessed sex-related differences in topological metrics using a 2 × 2 factorial design. At the global level, females with ASD exhibited significantly higher cluster coefficient and local efficiency than female TCs, while no significant difference was observed between males with ASD and male TCs. Meanwhile, the neurotypical sex differences in cluster coefficient and local efficiency observed in TCs were not present in ASD. At the nodal level, ASD exhibited abnormal nodal centrality in the left middle temporal gyrus.</p>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2024-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141763049","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cynthia E. Brown, Charles M. Borduin, Kaitlin M. Sheerin, Stephen M. Kanne
This study aimed to characterize aggressive behaviors in autistic youths and to identify the social environment variables most strongly linked with aggression in this clinical population. Participants were 2142 caregivers of autistic youths (ages 6.0–17.9) recruited from autism research centers across the United States. Caregivers completed self-report and behavior rating inventories that assessed both verbal and physical aggression as well as characteristics of the individual youths (sleep quality, gastrointestinal [GI] symptoms, and autism characteristics) and their families (caregiver stress, global family functioning, and sibling relations), peers (emotional bonding, number of friends), schools (academic functioning), and neighborhoods (perceived community safety). We used descriptive analyses to identify which aggressive acts were most common among autistic youths, and we performed bivariate correlations and multiple linear regression analyses to determine which characteristics of the youths and their social environments were most strongly linked with youth aggression. Verbally aggressive youth behaviors were endorsed by caregivers most frequently. Youth age and sex were not associated with verbal or physical aggression. A combination of youth and social environment characteristics accounted for 42.6% of the variance in verbal aggression and 26.0% of the variance in physical aggression. Thus, those characteristics most strongly linked with verbal and physical aggression were strained sibling relations, caregiver stress, youth sleep problems, and youth repetitive and restrictive behaviors. Viewed together, the results suggest that aggressive behaviors in autistic youths are associated with multiple characteristics pertaining to the individual youths and their immediate social environments. Implications for treatment and research are discussed.
{"title":"Characteristics and correlates of aggressive behavior in autistic youths","authors":"Cynthia E. Brown, Charles M. Borduin, Kaitlin M. Sheerin, Stephen M. Kanne","doi":"10.1002/aur.3199","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.3199","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This study aimed to characterize aggressive behaviors in autistic youths and to identify the social environment variables most strongly linked with aggression in this clinical population. Participants were 2142 caregivers of autistic youths (ages 6.0–17.9) recruited from autism research centers across the United States. Caregivers completed self-report and behavior rating inventories that assessed both verbal and physical aggression as well as characteristics of the individual youths (sleep quality, gastrointestinal [GI] symptoms, and autism characteristics) and their families (caregiver stress, global family functioning, and sibling relations), peers (emotional bonding, number of friends), schools (academic functioning), and neighborhoods (perceived community safety). We used descriptive analyses to identify which aggressive acts were most common among autistic youths, and we performed bivariate correlations and multiple linear regression analyses to determine which characteristics of the youths and their social environments were most strongly linked with youth aggression. Verbally aggressive youth behaviors were endorsed by caregivers most frequently. Youth age and sex were not associated with verbal or physical aggression. A combination of youth and social environment characteristics accounted for 42.6% of the variance in verbal aggression and 26.0% of the variance in physical aggression. Thus, those characteristics most strongly linked with verbal and physical aggression were strained sibling relations, caregiver stress, youth sleep problems, and youth repetitive and restrictive behaviors. Viewed together, the results suggest that aggressive behaviors in autistic youths are associated with multiple characteristics pertaining to the individual youths and their immediate social environments. Implications for treatment and research are discussed.</p>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2024-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141749770","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}