Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders最新文献_第2页

An evaluation of the collateral child and parent outcomes of telehealth-delivered behavioral sleep intervention for Autistic children 针对自闭症儿童的远程医疗行为睡眠干预的附带儿童和家长成果评估

IF 2.2 4区医学 Q1 EDUCATION, SPECIAL

Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Pub Date : 2024-11-16 DOI: 10.1016/j.rasd.2024.102514

Monique Clarke , Laurie McLay , Karyn France , Neville Blampied

Purpose

This research follows two studies that examined the efficacy and acceptability of a stepped-care model of behavioral sleep intervention (BSI) delivered to parents of Autistic children via telehealth (Clarke et al., 2024a, 2024b). The current study investigated the collateral benefits of these interventions on Autistic children’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors, health-related quality of life, and parent ratings of relationship quality, depression, anxiety, stress, and personal sleep quality.

Methods and Results

Data were available for 17 Autistic children (aged 3–17 years) and 22 parent participants (16 mothers, six fathers) who had received a telehealth-delivered behavioral sleep intervention (TDBSI). Parents completed a range of psychometric assessments at baseline and within six weeks of completing the program. Alongside reduced sleep problem severity (SPS), significant improvements, as indexed by non-negligible Cohen’s d values whose 95 % confidence intervals did not cross zero, were observed in children’s emotional and behavioral difficulties and health-related quality of life. Parents also reported that improvement in their child’s sleep positively influenced their own sleep quality and emotional well-being. There were no significant changes in parental relationship quality post-intervention, probably a ceiling effect.

Conclusion

TDBSIs have the potential to generate collateral benefits for Autistic children and their families. This finding is consistent with the limited existent research, suggesting that improved sleep may enhance child and parent well-being. Future research should focus on understanding the mechanisms underlying collateral change, including variations in effects among children and parents, and the durability across different telehealth modalities (i.e., self-directed versus therapist-guided) and follow-up intervals.

本研究是继两项研究之后的又一项研究，这两项研究考察了通过远程医疗向自闭症儿童家长提供行为睡眠干预（BSI）的阶梯护理模式的有效性和可接受性（Clarke 等人，2024a, 2024b）。本研究调查了这些干预措施对自闭症儿童的内化和外化行为、与健康相关的生活质量以及家长对关系质量、抑郁、焦虑、压力和个人睡眠质量的评价的附带益处。家长们在基线期和完成项目后的六周内完成了一系列心理测量评估。除了睡眠问题的严重程度（SPS）有所降低外，儿童的情绪和行为障碍以及与健康相关的生活质量也有了显著改善，其指标为不可忽略的 Cohen's d 值，95% 置信区间不为零。家长们还表示，孩子睡眠质量的改善对他们自身的睡眠质量和情绪健康也有积极影响。干预后，父母关系质量没有发生明显变化，这可能是一种天花板效应。这一发现与现有的有限研究一致，表明改善睡眠可以提高儿童和家长的幸福感。未来的研究应侧重于了解附带变化的内在机制，包括儿童和家长之间的效果差异，以及不同远程保健模式（即自我指导与治疗师指导）和随访间隔的持久性。

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引用次数: 0

The effect of exercise training on sleep quality in autism spectrum condition: Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials 运动训练对自闭症谱系障碍患者睡眠质量的影响：随机对照试验的系统回顾与荟萃分析

IF 2.2 4区医学 Q1 EDUCATION, SPECIAL

Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Pub Date : 2024-11-16 DOI: 10.1016/j.rasd.2024.102516

Daniel González-Devesa , Miguel Adriano Sanchez-Lastra , Benito Outeda-Monteagudo , Carlos Ayán-Pérez , José Carlos Diz-Gómez

We aimed to analyse the available scientific evidence on the effects of exercise programs on sleep quality in autism spectrum condition. Studies were searched in five electronic databases (MEDLINE/PubMed, Web of Science, EBSCOhost Environment Complete, Dialnet Plus and Scopus) until February 2024 (updated in August 2024). A total of ten randomized clinical trials were included. The pooled mean difference for subjective sleep duration (Child’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire [CSHQ] sub-scale), total CSHQ score, objective sleep duration and objective efficiency were − 1.62 points (95 % confidence interval [CI] − 2.34 to − 0.91; p < 0.001), −9.43 points (95 % CI: −16.89 to −1.97, p < 0.001), 0.42 h (95 % CI: 0.05–0.80, p = 0.03) and 9.91 % (95 % CI: 5.04–14.78, p < 0.001), respectively. In conclusion, exercise can serve as an adjunct therapy for managing sleep-related problems among children on the autism spectrum.

我们旨在分析运动项目对自闭症谱系障碍患者睡眠质量影响的现有科学证据。我们在五个电子数据库（MEDLINE/PubMed、Web of Science、EBSCOhost Environment Complete、Dialnet Plus 和 Scopus）中搜索了相关研究，搜索时间截至 2024 年 2 月（2024 年 8 月更新）。共纳入了 10 项随机临床试验。主观睡眠时间（儿童睡眠习惯问卷[CSHQ]子量表）、CSHQ总分、客观睡眠时间和客观效率的汇总平均差异为-1.62分（95%置信区间[CI] - 2.34 to - 0.91; p < 0.001）、-9.43 分（95 % 置信区间：-16.89 to -1.97, p < 0.001）、0.42 h（95 % 置信区间：0.05-0.80, p = 0.03）和 9.91 %（95 % 置信区间：5.04-14.78, p < 0.001）。总之，运动可作为自闭症谱系儿童控制睡眠相关问题的辅助疗法。

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引用次数: 0

Higher levels of autistic traits in the general population are associated with reduced visual field asymmetries in a dual-stream attentional blink task 普通人群中较高程度的自闭症特征与双流注意力眨眼任务中视野不对称的减少有关

IF 2.2 4区医学 Q1 EDUCATION, SPECIAL

Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Pub Date : 2024-11-16 DOI: 10.1016/j.rasd.2024.102503

Jason L. Ringo , Lisa N. Jefferies , Jacob A. Burack

Background

Spatial attention is typically right-hemisphere lateralized, resulting in a bias to preferentially process information in the left visual field (VF). As atypical hemispheric lateralization is considered a fundamental neurobiological feature of autism, we assessed whether it is also evident in people who display higher levels of autistic-type traits but do not meet the criteria for a clinical diagnosis of autism. In doing so, we used a dual-stream attentional blink task – a task with heavy processing demands and stimuli displayed simultaneously in both VFs – to elicit inter-hemispheric competition and assess visual field asymmetries.

Method

The participants were 82 university students, who had never been clinically diagnosed with autism, divided into two groups based on the level of autistic traits that they displayed on the Autism Quotient scale (AQ; Baron-Cohen et al., 2001). Two simultaneous streams of digit-distractors were displayed, one in each VF, and the participants’ task was to identify two letter-targets that were displayed unpredictably in the left or right stream.

Results

We found reduced VF asymmetries in higher autism-trait individuals, with the magnitude of the asymmetry correlating with AQ score.

Conclusions

We suggest that the reduced VF asymmetries in individuals with higher autism traits may be due to increased perceptual processing capacity (Remington et al., 2009), which reduces hemispheric competition and, thus, visual field asymmetries. The findings also highlight that even subtle differences in the degree of autistic traits in the general population may be associated with differences in visual attention.

背景空间注意力通常是右半球偏侧的，从而导致偏向于优先处理左侧视野（VF）中的信息。由于不典型的大脑半球偏侧被认为是自闭症的一个基本神经生物学特征，因此我们评估了这一特征是否在那些表现出较高程度的自闭症类型特征但不符合自闭症临床诊断标准的人身上也很明显。在此过程中，我们使用了双流注意眨眼任务--一项处理要求较高且刺激物同时显示在两个视场中的任务--来引发大脑半球间的竞争并评估视场的不对称性。方法被试是82名从未被临床诊断为自闭症的大学生，根据他们在自闭症商数量表（AQ；Baron-Cohen等人，2001年）上显示的自闭症特征水平分为两组。结果我们发现自闭症特质较高的人的视场不对称程度降低，不对称程度的大小与自闭症商数得分相关、2009），这减少了半球竞争，从而减少了视野不对称。研究结果还强调，即使普通人群中自闭症特征的程度存在细微差别，也可能与视觉注意力的差异有关。

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引用次数: 0

Examining parental stress factors in Hong Kong Chinese parents of autistic and neurodevelopmentally atypical children 研究香港华裔自闭症和神经发育异常儿童家长的压力因素

IF 2.2 4区医学 Q1 EDUCATION, SPECIAL

Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Pub Date : 2024-11-13 DOI: 10.1016/j.rasd.2024.102512

Xin Qi , Carol K.S. To

Background

Parenting an autistic child can be physically and mentally challenging. The approach parents take in response to these challenges can vary and may be related to the level of stress they experience.

Aims

This study compared the stress levels among Hong Kong Chinese parents of autistic children, typically developing (TD) children, and those with other neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), and their relationship with associated parental and child’s factors.

Methods

In this cross-sectional online survey, 314 Chinese parents completed self-reported questionnaires assessing parental stress, child's autism and other NDDs diagnosis, broad autism phenotype (BAP), coping strategies, social support, and parental psychological flexibility (PPF). Hierarchical multiple regression was used to analyze the contribution of these factors to parental stress, and mediation analyses examined how social support and PPF might mediate the relationship between: (1) an autism diagnosis and parental stress, and (2) BAP and parental stress.

Results

Parents of autistic children reported significantly higher stress levels than other parents. The presence of a child’s autism and other NDDs, along with greater BAP traits, significantly contributed to higher parental stress. Social support and PPF were strong protective factors that mediated the relationship between having an autistic child, exhibiting BAP traits, and parental stress.

Conclusions

Management for parents of autistic children should focus on promoting social support networks and fostering psychological flexibility to alleviate caregiving burden, especially for those exhibiting greater BAP traits.

背景养育自闭症儿童在身体上和精神上都是一项挑战。本研究比较了香港华人家长中自闭症儿童、典型发育（TD）儿童和其他神经发育障碍（NDD）儿童的压力水平，以及这些压力水平与家长和儿童相关因素的关系。方法在这项横断面在线调查中，314 位中国家长填写了自我报告问卷，评估了家长压力、孩子的自闭症和其他 NDD 诊断、广义自闭症表型（BAP）、应对策略、社会支持和家长心理灵活性（PPF）。我们使用层次多元回归法分析了这些因素对父母压力的影响，并通过中介分析研究了社会支持和 PPF 可能如何中介以下两者之间的关系：（1）自闭症诊断与父母压力；（2）广泛自闭症表型与父母压力。孩子患有自闭症和其他非传染性疾病，同时具有较强的BAP特征，是导致父母压力增大的重要原因。结论对自闭症儿童父母的管理应侧重于促进社会支持网络和培养心理灵活性，以减轻他们的照顾负担，尤其是那些表现出较强BAP特质的父母。

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引用次数: 0

Comparative analysis of vocal communication and atypicality in mandarin-speaking children with autism spectrum disorder, developmental delay, and typical development 自闭症谱系障碍儿童、发育迟缓儿童和典型发育儿童说普通话时的发声交流和不典型性比较分析

IF 2.2 4区医学 Q1 EDUCATION, SPECIAL

Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Pub Date : 2024-11-11 DOI: 10.1016/j.rasd.2024.102513

Min Liu , Yanxia Wang , Xinyu Hu , Mudi Sun , Lu Qu , Xuling Han , Hang Zhao , Haidan Lu , Qiaoyun Liu

Purpose

The current study aimed to examine the similarities and differences in vocal characteristics between Mandarin-speaking 36–72-month-old children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), children with developmental delay (DD), and typically developing (TD) children.

Methods

We analyzed vocal characteristics during parent–child free play. Video and audio samples were collected from 21 children with ASD, 18 children with DD matched groupwise for developmental level, and 15 TD children matched groupwise for chronological age.

Results

Compared to children in the DD and TD groups, children with ASD exhibited a significantly higher proportion of nonspeech vocalizations (NSV, p<0.01), atypical vocalizations (ATY, p<0.001), noncommunicative vocalizations (NCV, p<0.001), and no response to others (NR, p<0.001). These four metrics were significantly correlated with children’s performance on the developmental evaluation and intelligence test. Receiver operating characteristic analyses indicated that the area under the curve (AUC) ranged from 0.871–0.978, with moderate accuracy, when using these four metrics to differentiate between children with ASD and TD children; this value improved to 1.000 with high accuracy when combining the four metrics. The AUC ranged from 0.747–0.820 when using the four metrics to differentiate children with ASD from those with DD and improved to 0.857 when combining the four metrics.

Conclusion

These preliminary data suggest that vocal communication and vocal atypicality may be unique features of children with minimally verbal ASD and that the four metrics—NSV, ATY, NCV, and NR—have the potential to be ASD behavioral markers in screening and diagnosis.

目的本研究旨在探讨 36-72 个月大说普通话的自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童、发育迟缓（DD）儿童和发育正常（TD）儿童在发声特征方面的异同。我们收集了 21 名 ASD 儿童、18 名发育迟缓儿童和 15 名发育正常儿童的视频和音频样本。结果与发育迟缓组和发育迟缓组的儿童相比，患有 ASD 的儿童表现出的非语言发声（NSV，p<0.01）、非典型发声（ATY，p<0.001）、非交流发声（NCV，p<0.001）和不回应他人（NR，p<0.001）的比例明显更高。这四项指标与儿童在发育评估和智力测验中的表现明显相关。接收者操作特征分析表明，用这四项指标区分 ASD 儿童和 TD 儿童时，曲线下面积（AUC）在 0.871-0.978 之间，准确度为中等；将这四项指标合并后，准确度提高到 1.000，准确度为高。结论：这些初步数据表明，发声交流和发声不典型可能是最小言语型 ASD 儿童的独特特征，而四项指标--NSV、ATY、NCV 和 NR--有可能成为筛查和诊断 ASD 的行为标记。

{"title":"Comparative analysis of vocal communication and atypicality in mandarin-speaking children with autism spectrum disorder, developmental delay, and typical development","authors":"Min Liu , Yanxia Wang , Xinyu Hu , Mudi Sun , Lu Qu , Xuling Han , Hang Zhao , Haidan Lu , Qiaoyun Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.rasd.2024.102513","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rasd.2024.102513","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Purpose</h3><div>The current study aimed to examine the similarities and differences in vocal characteristics between Mandarin-speaking 36–72-month-old children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), children with developmental delay (DD), and typically developing (TD) children.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>We analyzed vocal characteristics during parent–child free play. Video and audio samples were collected from 21 children with ASD, 18 children with DD matched groupwise for developmental level, and 15 TD children matched groupwise for chronological age.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Compared to children in the DD and TD groups, children with ASD exhibited a significantly higher proportion of nonspeech vocalizations (NSV, <em>p</em><0.01), atypical vocalizations (ATY, <em>p</em><0.001), noncommunicative vocalizations (NCV, <em>p</em><0.001), and no response to others (NR, <em>p</em><0.001). These four metrics were significantly correlated with children’s performance on the developmental evaluation and intelligence test. Receiver operating characteristic analyses indicated that the area under the curve (AUC) ranged from 0.871–0.978, with moderate accuracy, when using these four metrics to differentiate between children with ASD and TD children; this value improved to 1.000 with high accuracy when combining the four metrics. The AUC ranged from 0.747–0.820 when using the four metrics to differentiate children with ASD from those with DD and improved to 0.857 when combining the four metrics.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>These preliminary data suggest that vocal communication and vocal atypicality may be unique features of children with minimally verbal ASD and that the four metrics—NSV, ATY, NCV, and NR—have the potential to be ASD behavioral markers in screening and diagnosis.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48255,"journal":{"name":"Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders","volume":"119 ","pages":"Article 102513"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2024-11-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142654097","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Measurement invariance of the Child Behavior Checklist in autistic toddlers 自闭症幼儿儿童行为检查表的测量不变性

IF 2.2 4区医学 Q1 EDUCATION, SPECIAL

Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Pub Date : 2024-11-02 DOI: 10.1016/j.rasd.2024.102500

Tara L. Benninger , Megan Norris , Andrea N. Witwer

Background

Challenging behavior has been examined in older children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but less is known about these behaviors in toddlers, due in part to variability in measurement and limited instruments available for this population. To address this need, this study examined the psychometric properties of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), a commonly used and widely validated measure of challenging behavior, in a group of toddlers with ASD.

Method

Participants included 496 toddlers aged 18–48 months with (n=398) and without (n= 100) a diagnosis of ASD. Psychometrics of the CBCL were analyzed including internal consistency, factor structure, and measurement invariance.

Results

Confirmatory factor analysis results indicated acceptable fit for the tested model, and internal consistency was largely acceptable. All levels of measurement invariance were tested for each subscale. The Emotional Reactivity, Anxious/Depressed, Withdrawn, and Aggressive Behavior subscales achieved scalar invariance, while the Attention Problems subscale achieved metric invariance, and the Somatic Complaints subscale did not achieve even configural invariance.

Conclusions

Results indicate the current CBCL conceptualization of challenging behavior in autistic toddlers is consistent with such constructs in older autistic children and provide preliminary support for the use of the CBCL to assess for challenging behavior in toddlers with ASD. Measurement invariance (MI) analyses support the construct validity of the CBCL in toddlers with ASD. However, based on the results of the MI analyses, some caution is warranted with specific subscales when conducting group comparison analyses between toddlers with and without ASD.

背景人们已经对患有自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的大龄儿童和青少年的挑战行为进行了研究，但对学步儿童的这些行为却知之甚少，部分原因在于测量方法的多变性以及适用于这一人群的工具有限。为了满足这一需求，本研究在一组患有自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的幼儿中对儿童行为核对表（CBCL）的心理测量特性进行了研究，该核对表是一种常用的、经过广泛验证的挑战性行为测量方法。对CBCL的心理测量学进行了分析，包括内部一致性、因子结构和测量不变性。结果确认性因子分析结果表明，测试模型的拟合度可以接受，内部一致性基本可以接受。每个分量表的所有测量不变性水平都通过了测试。情绪反应、焦虑/抑郁、退缩和攻击行为分量表实现了标度不变性，而注意力问题分量表实现了度量不变性，躯体抱怨分量表甚至没有实现构型不变性。结论结果表明，目前自闭症幼儿挑战行为的CBCL概念与年龄较大的自闭症儿童的此类构型一致，并为使用CBCL评估ASD幼儿的挑战行为提供了初步支持。测量不变量（MI）分析支持 CBCL 在 ASD 幼儿中的构建有效性。不过，根据测量不变量分析的结果，在对患有和不患有 ASD 的幼儿进行分组比较分析时，需要对特定的子量表谨慎对待。

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引用次数: 0

Fit club: Outcomes from 35-minute daily exercise program for autistic adolescents 健身俱乐部：自闭症青少年每天 35 分钟锻炼计划的成果

IF 2.2 4区医学 Q1 EDUCATION, SPECIAL

Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Pub Date : 2024-10-31 DOI: 10.1016/j.rasd.2024.102504

Claudia L. Hilton , Diane M. Collins , Julie Jones , Joanne Flanagan , Cora Carillo , Karen Ratcliff

Background

Autistic children and adolescents have academic performance challenges and are often reluctant to participate in physical activities. Executive function (EF) abilities generally remain stable or worsen as autistic children get older and obesity and lack of physical fitness are frequent concerns experienced by these individuals. Finding ways to address these concerns has the potential to improve outcomes in autistic youth.

Method

We conducted a 12-month, repeated-measures study to examine the effectiveness of a mandatory 35-minute daily school physical activity intervention involving low to moderate exertion for autistic adolescents (n = 29). Changes in fitness, EF, social responsiveness, and restrictive and repetitive behaviors were examined.

Results

Significant improvements were seen in fitness, EF areas (specifically cognitive flexibility and planning/organizing), restrictive and repetitive behaviors and social responsiveness.

Conclusion

Findings suggest that participation in a mandatory daily 35-minute physical activity program with low to moderate exertion is feasible and may contribute to improved EF, fitness, restricted and repetitive behavior, and social responsiveness in autistic adolescents.

背景自闭症儿童和青少年在学习成绩方面面临挑战，而且往往不愿意参加体育活动。随着自闭症儿童年龄的增长，他们的执行功能（EF）能力通常会保持稳定或有所下降，而肥胖和缺乏体能则是他们经常遇到的问题。我们进行了一项为期 12 个月的重复测量研究，以检验针对自闭症青少年（n = 29）的每天 35 分钟强制性学校体育活动干预的有效性。结果自闭症青少年在体能、EF（特别是认知灵活性和计划/组织能力）、限制性和重复性行为以及社会反应能力方面均有显著改善。结论研究结果表明，参加每天 35 分钟的强制性中低度运动量体育锻炼项目是可行的，而且可能有助于改善自闭症青少年的 EF、体能、限制性和重复性行为以及社会反应能力。

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引用次数: 0

Substantial elevation of telomeric oxidized bases in childhood autism 儿童自闭症患者端粒氧化碱基的大量增加

IF 2.2 4区医学 Q1 EDUCATION, SPECIAL

Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Pub Date : 2024-10-31 DOI: 10.1016/j.rasd.2024.102496

Mohammad Eftekhar , Yasin Panahi , Fahimeh Salasar Moghaddam , Mohammad Reza Eskandari , Hamid Pezeshk , Mehrdad Pedram

Background

The underlying molecular mechanisms responsible for the etiology of autism and its sex-biased prevalence remain largely elusive. We have previously shown that children with non-syndromic low-functioning idiopathic autism exhibit a sexually dimorphic pattern of relative telomere length (RTL), with autistic male children having significantly shorter RTL than autistic female children, healthy controls, and paired siblings. By contrast, a number of autistic girls had longer RTLs than healthy controls. Here, we investigated levels of telomeric oxidized base (TelOB) lesions among the same study subjects and groups.

Methods

Employing a quantitative PCR (qPCR)-based method, which combines DNA digestion targeting oxidized bases and telomere measurement, TelOB lesions were measured using genomic DNA extracted from saliva samples collected from 24 children (14 male and 10 female) with autism, 10 paired siblings, and 24 sex, age, and location-matched typically-developing controls.

Results

Our findings show that both male and female autistic children exhibit substantially higher TelOB lesions at their telomeres than healthy controls and paired siblings. Interestingly, these elevated levels of TelOBs show a direct correlation with RTL values in autistic children but not in healthy controls. However, TelOB levels do not show any association with age either in the autistic children or the healthy control group.

Conclusions

Our findings open a fresh angle into autism spectrum disorders (ASD), raise new questions, and lay the foundation for further research into telomere biology and underlying molecular mechanisms involved in ASD. TelOB levels are likely set during early development and may serve as biomarkers for childhood autism.

背景导致自闭症的病因及其性别偏见的分子机制在很大程度上仍然难以捉摸。我们曾研究表明，非综合征低功能特发性自闭症儿童的相对端粒长度（RTL）表现出性别双态性，自闭症男性儿童的RTL明显短于自闭症女性儿童、健康对照组和配对的兄弟姐妹。相比之下，一些自闭症女孩的相对端粒长度要长于健康对照组。方法采用一种基于定量 PCR（qPCR）的方法（该方法结合了针对氧化碱基的 DNA 消化和端粒测量），使用从 24 名自闭症儿童（14 名男性和 10 名女性）、10 名配对兄弟姐妹以及 24 名性别、年龄和地点匹配的发育正常对照组的唾液样本中提取的基因组 DNA 对端粒氧化碱基（TelOB）病变水平进行了测量。结果我们的研究结果表明，与健康对照组和配对的兄弟姐妹相比，男性和女性自闭症儿童的端粒TelOB病变程度都要高得多。有趣的是，在自闭症儿童中，TelOB 水平的升高与 RTL 值直接相关，而在健康对照组中则不然。结论我们的发现为研究自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）提供了一个新的视角，提出了新的问题，并为进一步研究端粒生物学和涉及 ASD 的潜在分子机制奠定了基础。TelOB水平可能在早期发育过程中就已确定，并可作为儿童自闭症的生物标志物。

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引用次数: 0

Effects of creative movement, general movement, or seated play interventions on motor performance in children with autism spectrum disorder: A pilot randomized controlled trial 创意运动、一般运动或坐姿游戏干预对自闭症谱系障碍儿童运动表现的影响：随机对照试验

IF 2.2 4区医学 Q1 EDUCATION, SPECIAL

Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Pub Date : 2024-10-30 DOI: 10.1016/j.rasd.2024.102501

W.C. Su , S. Srinivasan , A.N. Bhat

Background

Children with ASD experience significant gross motor challenges that could be addressed using motor interventions. However, contemporary ASD interventions that are sedentary in nature often target communication and fine motor skills and not children’s gross motor difficulties.

Methods

In the current pilot RCT, we evaluated changes in various motor outcomes (i.e., gross/fine motor coordination, locomotor skills, functional endurance, and praxis/imitation performance) following two types of whole-body motor interventions (Creative Movement (CM) or General Movement (GM)) and compared them to a Sedentary Play (SP) intervention focused on improving fine motor skills in children with ASD. Forty-five children with ASD (Mean Age ±SE: 8.7 ± 0.3, 38 males) were randomly assigned to the CM, GM, or SP groups and received 8 weeks of group-specific training.

Results

Both CM and GM interventions led to medium-to-large improvements in gross motor performance, including improved body coordination, strength/agility, locomotor skills, and walking endurance. Children in the CM group additionally showed medium-to-large-sized improvements in praxis performance, while children in the SP group showed improvements in fine motor performance. These training-related improvements were supported by improvements reported via parental questionnaires.

Conclusions

Researchers and clinicians should incorporate whole-body interventions targeting gross motor skills in the plan of care for children with ASD.

背景患有 ASD 的儿童面临着巨大的粗大运动挑战，这些挑战可以通过运动干预措施来解决。方法在目前的试验性研究中，我们评估了两种全身运动干预（创造性运动（CM）或一般运动（GM））后各种运动结果（即粗/细运动协调、运动技能、功能耐力和练习/模仿表现）的变化，并将它们与专注于改善 ASD 儿童精细运动技能的静坐游戏（SP）干预进行了比较。45名患有ASD的儿童（平均年龄±SE：8.7±0.3，38名男性）被随机分配到CM组、GM组或SP组，并接受了为期8周的特定组别训练。结果CM组和GM组的干预措施都使儿童的粗大运动表现得到了中到大的改善，包括身体协调性、力量/敏捷性、运动技能和行走耐力的提高。此外，CM 组的儿童还在练习表现方面取得了中等至较大的进步，而 SP 组的儿童则在精细动作表现方面取得了进步。结论研究人员和临床医生应将针对粗大运动技能的全身干预纳入自闭症儿童的护理计划中。

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引用次数: 0

The spectrum effect: Convergence of clinical and neuropsychological characteristics in adults referred for autism assessment 谱系效应：转介进行自闭症评估的成年人的临床和神经心理学特征的趋同性

IF 2.2 4区医学 Q1 EDUCATION, SPECIAL

Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Pub Date : 2024-10-29 DOI: 10.1016/j.rasd.2024.102502

Federico Maria Larcher , Michael Grözinger

Clinical and neuropsychological profiles of adults referred for autism assessment are not thoroughly understood, and information derived from studies comparing autistic adults to neurotypical controls might not be accurate to infer on individuals in a real-world, clinical setting. 263 adults (aged 18–65 years, 70 % males) referred to our clinic with a suspected diagnosis of autism were clinically explored and administered neuropsychological investigations. The suspected diagnosis was either confirmed or rejected. We conducted multivariate and post-hoc univariate analyses of covariance (MANCOVA; ANCOVA), controlling for possible confounders, to evaluate differences between autistic and non-autistic participants and further associations. Effect sizes (partial η²) were calculated for significant results. There were no significant differences in age means and sex ratios. Both groups showed high Autism Questionnaire (AQ) scores, high schizoid, avoidant, and obsessive-compulsive scores, and mild depressive symptoms, without significant difference between groups. The effect sizes of differences ranged from negligible to small for measures of nonsocial cognition, but were large for a measure of social cognition, the emotion recognition 40 (ER40). Autistic and non-autistic participants present converging features across multiple measures. In this diagnostic setting, psychiatric and neuropsychological measures are helpful in identifying individual difficulties and strengths. However, most of them, including the AQ, are poor indicators of autism. Our results mostly aligned with previous research and showed that information derived from comparisons to neurotypical controls cannot be directly transferred to a real-world setting. Detected impairments in emotion recognition were fairly specific to autism, expanding on previous findings.

人们对转诊进行自闭症评估的成年人的临床和神经心理学特征了解得并不透彻，从自闭症成年人与神经畸形对照组的比较研究中获得的信息可能无法准确推断真实临床环境中的个体情况。我们对 263 名疑似自闭症患者（18-65 岁，70% 为男性）进行了临床检查和神经心理学调查。疑似诊断得到了证实或否定。在控制了可能的混杂因素后，我们进行了多变量和事后单变量协方差分析（MANCOVA；ANCOVA），以评估自闭症患者和非自闭症患者之间的差异以及进一步的关联。对显著结果计算效应大小（偏η²）。年龄平均值和性别比例无明显差异。两组参与者的自闭症问卷（AQ）得分均较高，精神分裂症、回避症和强迫症得分均较高，抑郁症状较轻，但组间无显著差异。在非社会认知测量中，差异的效应大小从可以忽略到很小不等，但在社会认知测量--情绪识别 40（ER40）中，差异的效应大小却很大。自闭症患者和非自闭症患者在多项测量中呈现出趋同的特征。在这种诊断环境下，精神病学和神经心理学测量有助于识别个体的困难和优势。然而，包括 AQ 在内的大多数量表都不能很好地反映自闭症的情况。我们的研究结果与之前的研究结果基本一致，并表明从与神经畸形对照组的比较中获得的信息不能直接应用于真实世界的环境中。我们发现自闭症患者在情绪识别方面存在相当特殊的障碍，这是对之前研究结果的进一步拓展。

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