1. Billeci L, Tonacci A, Tartarisco G, Ruta L, Pioggia G, Gangemi S. {{Association Between Atopic Dermatitis and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Systematic Review}}. {Am J Clin Dermatol}. 2015.
BACKGROUND: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is an allergic disorder caused by both immunological dysregulation and epidermal barrier defect. Several studies have investigated the association between AD and mental health disorders. Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a heterogeneous group of neurodevelopmental conditions characterized by impairments in social communication and restricted, stereotyped interests and behaviors. The concurrent increased prevalence of AD and ASD in the last decades has led many scientists to investigate the relationship between the two diseases. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this systematic review was to examine the association between AD and ASD. METHODS: A systematic review was performed according to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. PubMed and ScienceDirect were searched up to March 2015 for all reports examining the association between ASD and AD. Descriptive statistics of the studies are reported. RESULTS: The review included 18 studies assessing the association between ASD and AD. Of these studies, two focused on ASD in relation to AD alone, 14 discussed ASD in relation to both AD and other atopic disorders, and two evaluated AD in parents of children with ASD. Most of these studies found a positive association between the two disorders, although there were some studies going in the opposite direction. The entity of the association is somewhat inconsistent among the different studies given that the frequencies of AD in ASD compared with a control group ranged from 7 to 64.2 %. In addition, odds ratios (ORs) or hazard ratios (HRs) gave different results as three studies found a weak association with an OR below 2 and a nonsignificant p value, and three other studies found a moderate or strong association with an OR ranging from 1.52 to 7.17 and a significant p value. When all atopic disorders were considered when evaluating the risk of ASD, the association was strong with an HR of 3.4 or an OR of 1.24 and p < 0.001. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the results of this systematic review seem to reveal an association between ASD and AD, suggesting that subjects with ASD have an increased risk of presenting with AD compared with typically developing controls, and vice versa. This association is supported by clinical/epidemiological aspects, shared genetic background and common immunological and autoimmune processes. However, the variability in study population and design, and the presence of other risk factors acting as confounding factors, sometimes contribute to inconsistent results. Further studies are needed to clarify the underlying pathophysiologic mechanism explaining the association between ASD and AD and to explore the causal association between the two conditions.
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2. Cervantes PE, Matson JL. {{Comorbid Symptomology in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Intellectual Disability}}. {J Autism Dev Disord}. 2015.
Evidence-based treatment must begin with the systematic and comprehensive identification of an individual’s complete clinical picture. Therefore, screening individuals with intellectual disability (ID) for comorbid disorders is imperative. Because of the frequent overlap between autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and ID, the current study explored the effects of co-occurring ASD on the comorbid symptoms exhibited by adults with ID. The study included 307 adults with severe or profound ID separated into two groups: ASD+ID and ID only. The ASD+ID group exhibited significantly more symptomology on eight of the 12 subscales examined including anxiety, mania, schizophrenia, stereotypies/tics, self-injurious behavior, eating disorders, sexual disorders, and impulse control. Further, comparisons of specific symptom endorsements yielded distinct results.
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3. Ellawadi AB, Weismer SE. {{Using Spoken Language Benchmarks to Characterize the Expressive Language Skills of Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders}}. {Am J Speech Lang Pathol}. 2015.
Purpose: Spoken language benchmarks proposed by Tager-Flusberg et al. (2009) were used to characterize communication profiles of toddlers with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and to investigate whether there were differences in variables hypothesized to influence language development at different benchmark levels. Method: The communication abilities of a large sample of toddlers with ASD (N = 105) were characterized in terms of spoken language benchmarks. The toddlers were grouped according to these benchmarks to investigate whether there were differences in selected variables across benchmark groups at a mean age of 2 (1/2) years. Results: The majority of children in the sample presented with uneven communication profiles, with relative strengths in phonology and significant weaknesses in pragmatics. When children were grouped according to one expressive language domain across-group differences were observed in response to joint attention and gestures, but not cognition or restricted and repetitive behaviors. Conclusion: The spoken language benchmarks are useful for characterizing early communication profiles and investigating features that influence expressive language growth.
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4. Helt MS, Fein DA. {{Facial Feedback and Social Input: Effects on Laughter and Enjoyment in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders}}. {J Autism Dev Disord}. 2015.
Both social input and facial feedback appear to be processed differently by individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We tested the effects of both of these types of input on laughter in children with ASD. Sensitivity to facial feedback was tested in 43 children with ASD, aged 8-14 years, and 43 typically developing children matched for mental age (6-14), in order to examine whether children with ASD use bodily feedback as an implicit source of information. Specifically, children were asked to view cartoons as they normally would (control condition), and while holding a pencil in their mouth forcing their smiling muscles into activation (feedback condition) while rating their enjoyment of the cartoons. The authors also explored the effects of social input in children with ASD by investigating whether the presence of a caregiver or friend (companion condition), or the presence of a laugh track superimposed upon the cartoon (laugh track condition) increased the children’s self-rated enjoyment of cartoons or the amount of positive affect they displayed. Results showed that the group with ASD was less affected by all three experimental conditions, but also that group differences seemed to have been driven by one specific symptom of ASD: restricted range of affect. The strong relationship between restricted affect and insensitivity to facial feedback found in this study sheds light on the implications of restricted affect for social development in ASD.
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5. Li YM, Ou JJ, Liu L, Zhang D, Zhao JP, Tang SY. {{Association Between Maternal Obesity and Autism Spectrum Disorder in Offspring: A Meta-analysis}}. {J Autism Dev Disord}. 2015.
As the link between maternal obesity and risk of autism among offspring is unclear, the present study assessed this association. A systematic search of an electronic database was performed to identify observational studies that examined the association between maternal obesity and autism. The outcome measures were odds ratios comparing offspring autism risk between obese and normal-weight mothers. Five observational studies were included in the meta-analysis. A fixed-effects model was used since low heterogeneity was observed between studies. The pooled adjusted odds ratio was 1.47 (95 % CI 1.24-1.74). The meta-analysis results support an increased risk of autism spectrum disorder in children of women who were obese during pregnancy. However, further study is warranted to confirm these results.
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6. Pack A, Colozzo P, Bernhardt BM, Radanov B, Rosebush R, Marinova-Todd SH. {{A case study on vocal loudness with a young adult with autism spectrum disorder and developmental delay}}. {Am J Speech Lang Pathol}. 2015.
Purpose: This clinical report describes an exploratory case study addressing reduction of vocal loudness in a young adult with history of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and developmental delay. The need for a short-term pull-out individual intervention arose from his participation in the Advancing Language and Literacy (ALL) group, a program that provides support for enhancement of speech-language-literacy skills for young adults with developmental disabilities. Method: The participant attended individual treatment sessions weekly for nine sessions, all of which were digitally audio-recorded. Client awareness of different loudness levels was first established using non-speech sounds and speech samples. Loudness in spontaneous speech was monitored with support of verbal and visual feedback in the individual sessions, and tracked in individual sessions as well as the ALL group, which served as a generalization context. Results: In the individual sessions, the participant’s spontaneous production of acceptable volume improved from 42% to 92% of utterances. Observation of group participation indicated generalization, with the majority of utterances produced post-treatment at an acceptable volume. Conclusions: This report emphasizes suprasegmental aspects as a dimension of communicative competence and highlights the need for continued intervention research and services for young adults with developmental disabilities.
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7. Reichow B, George-Puskar A, Lutz T, Smith IC, Volkmar FR. {{Brief Report: Systematic Review of Rett Syndrome in Males}}. {J Autism Dev Disord}. 2015.
Rett syndrome (RTT) is a neurogenetic disorder in which a period of typical development is followed by loss of previously acquired skills. Once thought to occur exclusively in females, increasing numbers of male cases of RTT have been reported. This systematic review included 36 articles describing 57 cases of RTT in males. Mutations of the MECP2 gene were present in 56 % of cases, and 68 % of cases reported other genetic abnormalities. This is the first review of published reports of RTT in male patients.
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8. Uljarevic M, Carrington S, Leekam S. {{Brief Report: Effects of Sensory Sensitivity and Intolerance of Uncertainty on Anxiety in Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {J Autism Dev Disord}. 2015.
This study examined the relations between anxiety and individual characteristics of sensory sensitivity (SS) and intolerance of uncertainty (IU) in mothers of children with ASD. The mothers of 50 children completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Highly Sensitive Person Scale and the IU Scale. Anxiety was associated with both SS and IU and IU was also associated with SS. Mediation analyses showed direct effects between anxiety and both IU and SS but a significant indirect effect was found only in the model in which IU mediated between SS. This is the first study to characterize the nature of the IU and SS interrelation in predicting levels of anxiety.
