1. Almansour MA, Alateeq MA, Alzahrani MK, Algeffari MA, Alhomaidan HT. {{Depression and anxiety among parents and caregivers of autistic spectral disorder children}}. {Neurosciences (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia)}. 2013 Jan;18(1):58-63.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the presence of depression and anxiety in parents/caregivers of autistic spectral disorder (ASD) children, and to identify associated factors. METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study carried out between July and December 2011, parents/caregivers of at least one child diagnosed with an ASD (cases group), were recruited through the Saudi Charitable Society of Autism Families and the Autism Clinic in the Pediatric out-patient clinic in King Fahad National Guard Hospital, King Abdulaziz Medical City (KAMC), Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The parents/caregivers of a normally developed child (control group) were recruited from the Well Child Clinic at King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh. We used a self-reported questionnaire containing questions on demographic data, as well as the Arabic version of the hospital anxiety and depression scale. RESULTS: The study included 100 parents/caregivers, 50 cases and 50 controls. More than 50% of the control group was in the age group 26-30 years (56%), while 42% of cases were in the age group 31-35 years. Time lapsed since autism diagnosis was over 3 years in one-third of cases. Twenty-two percent of cases, and only 2% of control parents/caregivers had a history of psychiatric problems (p=0.002). Both the mean depression score, and the mean anxiety score was significantly higher among cases when compared with controls, p<0.001. CONCLUSION: Autism is associated with burden and stress for parents/caregivers of the affected child. The demands placed by the disability contribute to a higher overall incidence of depression and anxiety among parents/caregivers.
2. David FJ, Baranek GT, Wiesen C, Miao AF, Thorpe DE. {{Coordination of precision grip in 2-6 years-old children with autism spectrum disorders compared to children developing typically and children with developmental disabilities}}. {Frontiers in integrative neuroscience}. 2012;6:122.
Impaired motor coordination is prevalent in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and affects adaptive skills. Little is known about the development of motor patterns in young children with ASD between 2 and 6 years of age. The purpose of the current study was threefold: (1) to describe developmental correlates of motor coordination in children with ASD, (2) to identify the extent to which motor coordination deficits are unique to ASD by using a control group of children with other developmental disabilities (DD), and (3) to determine the association between motor coordination variables and functional fine motor skills. Twenty-four children with ASD were compared to 30 children with typical development (TD) and 11 children with DD. A precision grip task was used to quantify and analyze motor coordination. The motor coordination variables were two temporal variables (grip to load force onset latency and time to peak grip force) and two force variables (grip force at onset of load force and peak grip force). Functional motor skills were assessed using the Fine Motor Age Equivalents of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale and the Mullen Scales of Early Learning. Mixed regression models were used for all analyses. Children with ASD presented with significant motor coordination deficits only on the two temporal variables, and these variables differentiated children with ASD from the children with TD, but not from children with DD. Fine motor functional skills had no statistically significant associations with any of the motor coordination variables. These findings suggest that subtle problems in the timing of motor actions, possibly related to maturational delays in anticipatory feed-forward mechanisms, may underlie some motor deficits reported in children with ASD, but that these issues are not unique to this population. Further research is needed to investigate how children with ASD or DD compensate for motor control deficits to establish functional skills.
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3. Doggett RA, Krasno AM, Koegel LK, Koegel RL. {{Acquisition of Multiple Questions in the Context of Social Conversation in Children with Autism}}. {J Autism Dev Disord}. 2013 Jan 5.
Verbal initiations, such as questions, are essential components of social conversation often lacking in children with autism. Building on research showing that single questions can be taught in isolation, this study used a multiple baseline design to investigate whether a self-management intervention was effective for teaching concurrent acquisition and discrimination of three social questions in the context of conversation. Following intervention, participants rapidly increased their appropriate use of all three questions in a conversational context and maintained these gains over time. The participants also used questions appropriately with partners uninvolved in treatment. Additionally, the occasional presence of appropriate questions during baseline coupled with rapid improvement during intervention support theories that a lack of question-asking may be motivation-based rather than ability-based.
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4. Freitag CM, Cholemkery H, Elsuni L, Kroeger AK, Bender S, Kunz CU, Kieser M. {{The group-based social skills training SOSTA-FRA in children and adolescents with high functioning autism spectrum disorder – study protocol of the randomised, multi-centre controlled SOSTA – net trial}}. {Trials}. 2013 Jan 7;14(1):6.
ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Group-based social skills training (SST) has repeatedly been recommended as treatment of choice in high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (HFASD). To date, no sufficiently powered randomised controlled trial has been performed to establish efficacy and safety of SST in children and adolescents with HFASD. In this randomised, multi-centre, controlled trial with 220 children and adolescents with HFASD it is hypothesized, that add-on group-based SST using the 12 weeks manualised SOSTA–FRA program will result in improved social responsiveness (measured by the parent rated social responsiveness scale, SRS) compared to treatment as usual (TAU). It is further expected, that parent and self reported anxiety and depressive symptoms will decline and pro-social behaviour will increase in the treatment group. A neurophysiological study in the Frankfurt HFASD subgroup will be performed pre- and post treatment to assess changes in neural function induced by SST versus TAU.Methods/design: The SOSTA — net trial is designed as a prospective, randomised, multi-centre, controlled trial with two parallel groups. The primary outcome is change in SRS score directly after the intervention and at 3 months follow-up. Several secondary outcome measures are also obtained. The target sample consists of 220 individuals with ASD, included at the six study centres. DISCUSSION: This study is currently one of the largest trials on SST in children and adolescents with HFASD worldwide. Compared to recent randomised controlled studies, our study shows several advantages with regard to in- and exclusion criteria, study methods, and the therapeutic approach chosen, which can be easily implemented in non-university-based clinical settings.Trial registration: ISRCTN94863788 — SOSTA — net: Group-based social skills training in children and adolescents with high functioning autism spectrum disorder.
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5. Lehti V, Brown AS, Gissler M, Rihko M, Suominen A, Sourander A. {{Autism spectrum disorders in IVF children: a national case-control study in Finland}}. {Human reproduction (Oxford, England)}. 2013 Jan 4.
STUDY QUESTION: Does IVF increase the risk of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs)? SUMMARY ANSWER: No association between IVF and ASDs or any of its subtypes was found in this sample. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Certain prenatal factors may increase the risk of ASDs. Studies on the association between IVF and ASDs have shown inconsistent results. IVF is known to increase the risk of perinatal problems but many of them are related to multiple pregnancies. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: This case-control study included 4164 autistic cases and 16 582 matched controls born in Finland in 1991-2005. The cases were diagnosed with ASDs by the year 2007. The maximum age at diagnosis was 16 years. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: Four controls were matched to each case. For singletons the matching criteria were date of birth, place of birth, sex and residency in Finland. For twins the birth order within a twin pair was included as well. In the whole sample, there were 63 cases (1.51%) and 229 controls (1.38%) born after IVF. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: No significant association was found between IVF and ASDs (adjusted odds ratio (OR): 0.9, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.7-1.3) or its subtypes childhood autism (OR: 0.8, 95% CI: 0.4-1.5), Asperger’s syndrome (OR: 0.9, 95% CI: 0.5-1.6) or other pervasive developmental disorder (OR: 1.0, 95% CI: 0.6-1.6). When only singletons were included, there was an association between IVF and Asperger’s syndrome in an unadjusted analysis (OR: 2.0, 95% CI: 1.1-3.5) but this was not significant when adjusted for mother’s socioeconomic status or parity. When the analyses were conducted separately for boys and girls, there was a significant association between IVF and Asperger’s syndrome for boys in an unadjusted analysis (OR: 2.1, 95% CI: 1.2-3.7) but this was not significant in the final adjusted model. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: Information both on IVF and on ASDs was based on registers and it is possible that there is some misclassification. No information on different subtypes of IVF or other assisted reproduction techniques was available. Statistical power may have been insufficient. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: This study showed no increased risk of ASDs in children born after IVF but studies with larger sample sizes and information on different subtypes of IVF are needed to confirm the finding. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S): The study was supported by Autism Speaks, NIMH 1K02-MH65422 and NIEHS 1R01ES019004. There are no competing interests.
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6. Leung C, Fan A, Sanders MR. {{The effectiveness of a Group Triple P with Chinese parents who have a child with developmental disabilities: A randomized controlled trial}}. {Research in developmental disabilities}. 2013 Jan 3;34(3):976-84.
The study examined the effectiveness of Group Triple P, a Level 4 variant of the Triple P multilevel system of parenting support, with Chinese parents who had a preschool aged child with a developmental disability, using randomized controlled trial design. Participants (Intervention group: 42; Waitlist Control group: 39) completed measures on child behaviour, parental stress, dysfunctional discipline styles and parental conflict before and after program completion by the Intervention group. Intervention group participants also completed these same measures six months after program completion. Compared to the Waitlist Control group, parents receiving Group Triple P reported significantly lower levels of child behaviour problems, parental stress, dysfunctional discipline style and parental conflict scores. The Intervention group participants maintained their gains six months after program completion. The results provided promising evidence for the Level 4 Group Triple P as an effective intervention program for Chinese parents who have preschool aged children with developmental disabilities.
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7. McCabe KL, Melville JL, Rich D, Strutt PA, Cooper G, Loughland CM, Schall U, Campbell LE. {{Divergent Patterns of Social Cognition Performance in Autism and 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome (22q11DS)}}. {J Autism Dev Disord}. 2013 Jan 6.
Individuals with developmental disorders frequently report a range of social cognition deficits including difficulties identifying facial displays of emotion. This study examined the specificity of face emotion processing deficits in adolescents with either autism or 22q11DS compared to typically developing (TD) controls. Two tasks (face emotion recognition and weather scene recognition) were used to explore group differences in visual scanpath strategy and concurrent recognition accuracy. For faces, the autism and 22q11DS groups demonstrated lower emotion recognition accuracy and fewer fixations compared to the TD group. Individuals with autism demonstrated fewer fixations to some weather scene stimuli compared to 22q11DS and TD groups, yet achieved a level of recognition accuracy comparable to the TD group. These findings provide evidence for a divergent pattern of social cognition dysfunction in autism and 22q11DS.
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8. McGonigle-Chalmers M, Alderson-Day B, Fleming J, Monsen K. {{Profound Expressive Language Impairment in Low Functioning Children with Autism: An Investigation of Syntactic Awareness Using a Computerised Learning Task}}. {J Autism Dev Disord}. 2013 Jan 6.
Nine low-functioning children with profound expressive language impairment and autism were studied in terms of their responsiveness to a computer-based learning program designed to assess syntactic awareness. The children learned to touch words on a screen in the correct sequence in order to see a corresponding animation, such as ‘monkey flies’. The game progressed in levels from 2 to 4 word sequences, contingent upon success at each stage. Although performance was highly variable across participants, a detailed review of their learning profiles suggested that no child lacked syntactic awareness and that elementary syntactic control in a non-speech domain was superior to that manifest in their spoken language. The reasons for production failures at the level of speech in children with autism are discussed.
