1. Breiner CE, McQuaid GA, Wallace GL, Zickgraf HF. Screening for Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder Symptoms Among Autistic Adults: Measurement Invariance With a Comparison General Sample. Autism Res;2025 (Apr 19)

Research suggests a higher prevalence of avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) in autistic people across the lifespan compared to the general population. However, ARFID symptoms in autistic people may be misattributed to core autistic traits and gastrointestinal symptoms that often co-occur with autism. This diagnostic overshadowing could lead to the under-recognition and under-treatment of modifiable symptoms of psychopathology in autistic people. Validating ARFID symptom measures in this population is essential to screening for ARFID and tracking treatment outcomes in this population. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate the equivalence of the factor structure, factor loadings, and item intercepts of the Nine-Item ARFID Screen (NIAS) between a sample of autistic adults (n = 248) who self-disclosed their diagnosis and a comparison general sample (n = 398). There was support for strong measurement invariance (configural, metric, and scalar) on the NIAS. Autistic adults scored significantly higher on each of the three subscales: selective eating (d = 0.54), appetite impairment (d = 0.27), and fear-driven avoidance of eating (d = 0.37). The NIAS is a valid instrument for measuring ARFID symptomatology in autistic adults. Autistic adults experience elevated symptomatology across all three ARFID eating restrictions. Future research should address whether evidence-based ARFID treatments are efficacious for autistic adults or need to be modified.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

2. Choi JW, Jang H, Kuiper JR, Bennett DH, Schmidt RJ, Shin HM. Gestational exposures to mixtures of multiple chemical classes and autism spectrum disorder in the MARBLES study. Environ Res;2025 (Apr 16):121646.

BACKGROUND: Previous epidemiologic studies on gestational chemical exposures and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often lack analysis of chemical mixtures or are limited to investigating certain chemical classes. OBJECTIVE: We examined the impact of multi-class chemical mixtures on ASD risk, using data from the MARBLES (Markers of Autism Risks in Babies-Learning Early Signs) cohort. METHODS: Children were clinically assessed at age 3 and classified as ASD, typical development (TD), or non-TD with other neurodevelopmental concerns. In blood or urine from 105 pregnant mothers, we quantified 42 biomarkers across 5 chemical classes: per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), parabens, phenols, phthalates, and organophosphate esters (OPEs). We only analyzed 30 biomarkers detected in >50% of the sample. After identifying clusters with similar chemical profiles via hierarchical clustering, we applied linear discriminant analysis (LDA) to compute LDA exposure summary scores. In covariate-adjusted models, we used LDA scores to assess co-adjusted, multipollutant associations (relative risk [RR]) with ASD or non-TD, via quasi-Poisson regression. We further examined overall mixture effect and chemical interactions with Bayesian kernel machine regression. RESULTS: We identified four distinct clusters: PFAS (Cluster 1), OPEs (Cluster 2), parabens and triclosan (Cluster 3), and phthalates and bisphenol A (Cluster 4). Relative to TD, LDA scores for each cluster were associated with increased risk of ASD (RR [95% CI]: 1.14 [1.03, 1.25], 1.12 [1.01, 1.24], 1.17 [1.07, 1.29], 1.17 [1.07, 1.28] for Cluster 1-4, respectively), whereas clusters 2 and 4 were associated with non-TD (1.07 [1.07, 1.14] and 1.12 [1.05, 1.19], respectively). Cumulative exposure across the four clusters was linked to increased risk of both ASD and non-TD. Potential interactions within and between clusters were observed. CONCLUSION: This study shows that considering multiple chemical classes resulted in stronger associations with ASD and non-TD risk, compared to when investigated separately in our previous studies.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

3. Doherty M. My autistic meltdown: the impact of autistic sensory needs. Lancet;2025 (Apr 19);405(10487):1332-1333.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

4. Lamash L, Gutman Y, Meyer S, Gal E. Aligning Perspectives: Autism Identity, Independence, Participation, and Quality of Life in Autistic Adolescents Through Self and Parental Reports. J Autism Dev Disord;2025 (Apr 19)

This study examines the alignment between self-reports and parental reports on adolescents’ autism identity, functional autonomy, social participation, and quality of life (QoL), providing insights into the relationships between these factors. Thirty dyads comprising adolescents aged 13 to 18 years and one of their parents participated in the study. Participants completed the Autism Identity Questionnaire, Daily Routine and Autonomy questionnaire, Child and Adolescent Scale of Participation-Youth, and the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory. The findings indicated moderate agreement between self-reports and parental reports regarding autism identity, functional autonomy, and QoL. Fair agreement was found regarding social participation. Adolescents who reported higher levels of acceptance regarding their autism identity demonstrated greater autonomy and participation, which correlated with a higher QoL. Conversely, those with higher engulfment scores (feeling overwhelmed by the diagnosis) exhibited lower levels of independence, social participation, and emotional and social QoL. These findings suggest that fostering a positive autism identity may enhance autonomy and social participation while addressing feelings of engulfment could improve emotional and social outcomes.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

5. Manippa V, Spina AC, Cornacchia E, Malatesta G, Scaramuzzi GF, Semeraro L, De Benedictis A, Rivolta D, Taurisano P. Asymmetries run deep: the interplay between cradling bias, face recognition, autistic traits, and personality. Laterality;2025 (Apr 19):1-19.

Personality traits are linked to a variety of cognitive and socio-emotional factors, including lateralization patterns. Autism, prosopagnosia, and atypical cradling have been associated with altered lateralization and socio-emotional processing. This study explores how autism traits, cradling-side preferences, and face recognition abilities relate to individual personality differences. Three-hundred neurotypical adults (150 males) completed an online survey including the imaged cradling preference and three validated questionnaires: the Autism spectrum Quotient (AQ), Prosopagnosia Index-20 (PI-20), and the Big Five Personality Questionnaire (BFQ). Results showed a strong left-cradling bias (LCB) unaffected by sex, handedness, parental status, autism traits, or face recognition abilities. AQ negatively predicted Extraversion, Agreeableness, Emotional Stability, and Openness. LCB correlated with higher Agreeableness and moderated the negative association between AQ and Extraversion. These findings suggest a potential link between cradling preferences, autism traits, and personality, possibly reflecting reduced right-hemisphere specialization in emotional processing and social behaviour.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

6. Montagni E, Ambrosone M, Martello A, Curti L, Polverini F, Baroncelli L, Mannaioni G, Pavone FS, Masi A, Allegra Mascaro AL. Age-dependent cortical overconnectivity in Shank3 mice is reversed by anesthesia. Transl Psychiatry;2025 (Apr 19);15(1):154.

Growing evidence points to brain network dysfunction as a central neurobiological basis for autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). As a result, studies on Functional Connectivity (FC) have become pivotal for understanding the large-scale network alterations associated with ASD. Despite ASD being a neurodevelopmental disorder, and FC being significantly influenced by the brain state, existing FC studies in mouse models predominantly focus on adult subjects under anesthesia. The differential impact of anesthesia and age on cortical functional networks in ASD subjects remains unexplored. To fill this gap, we conducted a longitudinal evaluation of FC across three brain states and three ages in the Shank3b mouse model of autism. We utilized wide-field calcium imaging to monitor cortical activity in Shank3b(+/-) and Shank3b(+/+) mice from late development (P45) through adulthood (P90), and isoflurane anesthesia to manipulate the brain state. Our findings reveal that network hyperconnectivity, emerging from the barrel-field cortices during the juvenile stage, progressively expands to encompass the entire dorsal cortex in adult Shank3b(+/-) mice. Notably, the severity of FC imbalance is highly dependent on the brain state: global network alterations are more pronounced in the awake state and are strongly reduced under anesthesia. These results underscore the crucial role of anesthesia in detecting autism-related FC alterations and identify a significant network of early cortical dysfunction associated with autism. This network represents a potential target for non-invasive translational treatments.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

7. Teimouri Sangani M, Sohrabi M, Soleymani Z, Jalilevand N, Rashed Chitgar E, Nakhostin Ansari N, Mohamadi R. The effect of narrative-based language intervention (NBLI) on narrative performance of children with autism spectrum disorder. Appl Neuropsychol Child;2025 (Apr 19):1-8.

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of narrative-based language intervention (NBLI) on narrative retell of Persian-speaking children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Eleven children with ASD aged 5 to 7 years old participated in this study. All participants attended NBLI sessions individually three times a week. In this procedure a set of steps that target microstructure and macrostructure components were used for retelling narratives. An illustrated storybook and icon cards were presented to the children. In a pre- and post-test design, results were assessed in three phases before intervention, immediately after intervention and as a follow-up two weeks after intervention. At the level of microstructure, the results showed that there were significant improvement in productivity (number of total words and total clauses) and syntactic complexity (average of T-unit length and subordination index) immediately after intervention. At the level of macrostructure, there was also improvement in total score of story grammar elements immediately after intervention. All these learning outcomes were maintained two weeks after intervention. In conclusion, NBLI can be effective in improving the microstructure and macrostructure components of spoken narrative in children with ASD.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

8. Yang X, Holmes LG, Su S, Crehan ET. Looking Through a Cultural Perspective: Autistic Young Adults’ Experiences and Expectations in Sexuality and Relationship Education in the U.S. J Autism Dev Disord;2025 (Apr 19)

Although students with diverse cultural backgrounds need sexuality and relationship education (SRE), the perspectives of those from different cultural groups with neurodevelopmental conditions are often under-investigated. The autistic population, in particular, may have communication and sensory preferences that can be unsupported by the current SRE for non-autistic people, and the cultural relatedness of the SRE they received are often unrecognized. To better understand autistic individuals’ insights, nine autistic young adults from different cultural groups between 20 and 35 years old (four cis-males, two cis-females, three non-binaries) were interviewed to learn about their previous experiences and future expectations in sexuality and relationship education. Results of the inductive (i.e., bottom-up) thematic analyses indicated a low consideration of cultural aspects in their SRE experiences reported by autistic adults. The results highlighted the need for a diverse, consistent, and tailored SRE for the autistic population, with more efforts made from the education system to promote cultural adaptations of SRE. Suggestions are provided for the education systems, professionals, parents, and researchers to develop more tailored SRE for the autistic population.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)