1. Glod M, Creswell C, Waite P, Jamieson R, McConachie H, Don South M, Rodgers J. {{Comparisons of the Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance of the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale-Parent Version in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Typically Developing Anxious Children}}. {J Autism Dev Disord};2017 (Apr 09)
The Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale-Parent version (SCAS-P) is often used to assess anxiety in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), however, little is known about the validity of the tool in this population. The aim of this study was to determine whether the SCAS-P has the same factorial validity in a sample of young people with ASD (n = 285), compared to a sample of typically developing young people with anxiety disorders (n = 224). Poor model fit with all of the six hypothesised models precluded invariance testing. Exploratory factor analysis indicated that different anxiety phenomenology characterises the two samples. The findings suggest that cross-group comparisons between ASD and anxious samples based on the SCAS-P scores may not always be appropriate.
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2. Iniesta-Sepulveda M, Nadeau JM, Ramos A, Kay B, Riemann BC, Storch EA. {{An Initial Case Series of Intensive Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {Child Psychiatry Hum Dev};2017 (Apr 07)
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is prevalent among youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) with ASD-specific modifications has support for treating OCD in this population; however, use of intensive CBT in youth with ASD and severe OCD has not been tested. The current study examined the preliminary effectiveness of an individualized intensive CBT protocol for OCD in adolescents with ASD. Nine adolescents (aged 11-17 years) completed a regimen of intensive CBT (range 24-80 daily sessions) incorporating exposure with response prevention (ERP). Treatment materials, language and techniques were modified in accordance with evidence-based findings for this population. Seven of nine participants (78%) were treatment responders, and large treatment effects (d = 1.35-2.58) were obtained on primary outcomes (e.g., obsessive-compulsive symptom severity). Preliminary findings suggest that an intensive CBT approach for OCD is effective among adolescents with ASD.
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3. Rance G, Chisari D, Saunders K, Rault JL. {{Reducing Listening-Related Stress in School-Aged Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {J Autism Dev Disord};2017 (Apr 07)
High levels of stress and anxiety are common in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Within this study of school-aged children (20 male, 6 female) we hypothesised that functional hearing deficits (also pervasive in ASD) could be ameliorated by auditory interventions and that, as a consequence, stress levels would be reduced. The use of Ear-Level Remote Microphone devices and Classroom Amplification systems resulted in significantly improved listening, communication and social interaction and a reduction in physiologic stress levels (salivary cortisol) in both one-on-one and group listening situations.
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4. Roberts AL, Lyall K, Weisskopf MG. {{Maternal Exposure to Childhood Abuse is Associated with Mate Selection: Implications for Autism in Offspring}}. {J Autism Dev Disord};2017 (Apr 09)
Maternal experience of childhood abuse has been associated with offspring autism. To explore whether familial tendency towards autistic traits-presumably related to genetic predisposition-accounts for this association, we examined whether women who experienced childhood abuse were more likely to select mates with high levels of autistic traits, and whether parental autistic traits accounted for the association of maternal abuse and offspring autism in 209 autism cases and 833 controls. Maternal childhood abuse was strongly associated with high paternal autistic traits (severe abuse, OR = 3.98, 95% CI = 1.26, 8.31). Maternal and paternal autistic traits accounted for 21% of the association between maternal abuse and offspring autism. These results provide evidence that childhood abuse affects mate selection, with implications for offspring health.
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5. Stronach ST, Wetherby AM. {{Observed and Parent-Report Measures of Social Communication in Toddlers With and Without Autism Spectrum Disorder Across Race/Ethnicity}}. {Am J Speech Lang Pathol};2017 (Apr 09):1-14.
Purpose: This study investigated whether measures of early social communication vary among young children of diverse racial/ethnic status with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Method: Participants were 364 toddlers between ages 18 and 36 months with a diagnosis of ASD confirmed (n = 195) or ruled out (n = 169), from 3 racial/ethnic categories: non-Hispanic White (n = 226), non-Hispanic Black (n = 74), and Hispanic (n = 64). Group differences in social communication were examined using an observational measure-the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales Behavior Sample (CSBS-BS; Wetherby & Prizant, 2002)-and a parent-report measure, the Early Screening for Autism and Communication Disorders (Wetherby, Woods, & Lord, 2007). Results: Controlling for maternal education, children with ASD scored significantly lower on the CSBS-BS than children without, indicating poorer social communication skills, and higher on the Early Screening for Autism and Communication Disorders, indicating more ASD features. Racial/ethnic groups did not differ on 6 CSBS-BS clusters, but Non-Hispanic White toddlers scored significantly higher than both other groups on the Understanding cluster. There were no significant Diagnosis x Race/Ethnicity interactions. Conclusion: These findings indicate good agreement between observed and parent-report measures in this sample. Results suggest that the CSBS-BS and Early Screening for Autism and Communication Disorders could be viable tools in the detection process for toddlers with ASD in these racial/ethnic groups.
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6. Vanmarcke S, Noens I, Steyaert J, Wagemans J. {{Spatial Frequency Priming of Scene Perception in Adolescents With and Without ASD}}. {J Autism Dev Disord};2017 (Apr 09)
While most typically developing (TD) participants have a coarse-to-fine processing style, people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) seem to be less globally and more locally biased when processing visual information. The stimulus-specific spatial frequency content might be directly relevant to determine this temporal hierarchy of visual information processing in people with and without ASD. We implemented a semantic priming task in which (in)congruent coarse and/or fine spatial information preceded target categorization. Our results indicated that adolescents with ASD made more categorization errors than TD adolescents and needed more time to process the prime stimuli. Simultaneously, however, our findings argued for a processing advantage in ASD, when the prime stimulus contains detailed spatial information and presentation time permits explicit visual processing.
