Pubmed du 18/09/22
1. Muniandy M, Richdale AL, Lawson LP. Coping-resilience profiles and experiences of stress in autistic adults. Autism Res;2022 (Sep 16)
Emerging studies allude to high stress in autistic adults. Considering the detrimental impact of stress on health outcomes, examining individual resources which may influence the extent to which stress is experienced (e.g., coping and resilience) is vital. Using a person-focused approach, this study aimed to identify coping-resilience profiles, and examine their relations to general perceived stress and daily hassles in a sample of autistic adults (N = 86; aged 19-74 years). Cluster analysis identified four coping-resilience profiles (i.e., high cope/ low resilience, low cope/ high resilience, engage cope/ high resilience, and disengage cope/ low resilience). The high cope/ low resilience and disengage cope/ low resilience groups had significantly higher general perceived stress than the remaining groups. No significant group differences were noted in relation to daily hassles. Jointly addressing coping and resilience may be beneficial on the perceived stress experienced in autistic adults. The use of coping-resilience profiles may also allow for the personalization of stress management and support options in the autistic adult population. LAY SUMMARY: High stress is increasingly reported in autistic adults. As stress can impact individual health, examining how autistic individuals cope with stress, and their resilience when faced with stressful events, is important. In this study, we grouped 86 autistic individuals aged 19-74 years based on their coping and resilience patterns. We then compared these groups across their general sense of stress and stress over daily hassles. Four coping-resilience groups were identified, where those demonstrating a combination of high disengagement coping strategy use and low resilience reported the highest general sense of stress. These results suggest that a joint focus on coping strategies and resilience may be beneficial in understanding the stress experienced in autistic adults. Characterizing individuals based on their coping-resilience patterns can inform support services, personalize stress management options and identify individuals who may be at risk for experiencing high stress in the autistic adult population.
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2. Schiltz HK, Fenning RM, Erath SA, Baker JK. Parasympathetic functioning and sleep problems in children with autism spectrum disorder. Autism Res;2022 (Sep 16)
Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), an index of parasympathetic nervous system activity, has been linked with sleep quality among children with neurotypical development. The current study extended examination of these processes to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a group at considerable risk for sleep problems. Participants included 54 children with ASD (aged 6-10 years, 43% Hispanic). RSA data were collected via a wired MindWare system during a 3-min baseline and a 3-min challenge task. Parents reported on their children’s sleep problems and sleep duration using the Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire, Abbreviated. Although no significant correlations emerged between RSA indices and parent-reported child sleep, baseline RSA and RSA reactivity interacted in the prediction of sleep problems. For children with higher RSA reactivity, higher baseline RSA was associated with fewer sleep problems, but for children with lower RSA reactivity, baseline RSA was not predictive. No main effects or interactions of RSA predicted sleep duration. Findings suggest resilience against sleep problems for children with ASD presenting with higher baseline RSA and higher RSA reactivity. Implications of these results center upon directly targeting psychophysiology (i.e., parasympathetic nervous system regulation) as a possible mechanism to improve sleep in children with ASD, and developing personalized interventions based on physiological markers of risk and resilience. LAY SUMMARY: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have difficulty sleeping, but contributing factors are not well understood. Findings suggest that certain psychophysiological tendencies thought to represent better overall arousal regulation and greater physiological reactivity to challenge may protect against sleep difficulties in children with ASD. Implications highlight the potential for targeting psychophysiological regulation as an avenue for reducing sleep problems.
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3. Talli I, Dovrolis N, Oulas A, Stavrakaki S, Makedou K, Spyrou GM, Maroulakou I. Novel clinical, molecular and bioinformatics insights into the genetic background of autism. Hum Genomics;2022 (Sep 18);16(1):39.
BACKGROUND: Clinical classification of autistic patients based on current WHO criteria provides a valuable but simplified depiction of the true nature of the disorder. Our goal is to determine the biology of the disorder and the ASD-associated genes that lead to differences in the severity and variability of clinical features, which can enhance the ability to predict clinical outcomes. METHOD: Novel Whole Exome Sequencing data from children (n = 33) with ASD were collected along with extended cognitive and linguistic assessments. A machine learning methodology and a literature-based approach took into consideration known effects of genetic variation on the translated proteins, linking them with specific ASD clinical manifestations, namely non-verbal IQ, memory, attention and oral language deficits. RESULTS: Linear regression polygenic risk score results included the classification of severe and mild ASD samples with a 81.81% prediction accuracy. The literature-based approach revealed 14 genes present in all sub-phenotypes (independent of severity) and others which seem to impair individual ones, highlighting genetic profiles specific to mild and severe ASD, which concern non-verbal IQ, memory, attention and oral language skills. CONCLUSIONS: These genes can potentially contribute toward a diagnostic gene-set for determining ASD severity. However, due to the limited number of patients in this study, our classification approach is mostly centered on the prediction and verification of these genes and does not hold a diagnostic nature per se. Substantial further experimentation is required to validate their role as diagnostic markers. The use of these genes as input for functional analysis highlights important biological processes and bridges the gap between genotype and phenotype in ASD.
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4. Yu YT, Lin CH, Li HJ, Tsai CH, Chen KL. Different mediators of applied theory-of-mind competence in children with autism spectrum disorder. Res Dev Disabil;2022 (Sep 18);130:104335.
BACKGROUND: Children with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) with mild and moderate symptom levels have significant differences in applied theory of mind (ToM) competence. However, their mediators of applied ToM competence have not been documented. AIMS: This study aimed to identify the mediators of applied ToM competence in these two clinically distinct groups. METHODS: A total of 163 children with ASD aged 3-12 years old (88 and 75 children respectively in the mild and moderate groups) and their caregivers participated in this study. Data of children’s verbal comprehension, explicit ToM knowledge and applied ToM competence were collected and then analyzed using mediation analysis. RESULTS: The results of mediation analysis showed that verbal comprehension (95% confidence interval [CI] of indirect effect: 0.02 – 0.19) and explicit ToM knowledge (95% CI of indirect effect: 0.01 – 0.07) were the mediators of applied ToM competence in children with mild and those with moderate symptoms, respectively. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Our findings demonstrate that the mediators of applied ToM competence differ by symptom level in children with ASD. Applied ToM competence and the mediators should be assessed for designing tailored and effective intervention plans for these children according to their symptom level.
