1. Alshekaili M, Al-Balushi N, Mohammed A-A, Mirza H, Al-Huseini S, Al-Balushi M, Panchatcharam SM, Mahadevan S, Al-Sibani N, Al-Farsi YM, Al-Adawi S. {{Risk factors underlying depressive symptoms among parents/primary care providers of kids with autism spectrum disorder: A study from Muscat, Oman}}. {Perspect Psychiatr Care};2019 (Mar 19)
AIM: To explore the prevalence and correlates of depressive symptoms among parents/primary care providers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). DESIGN AND METHODS: A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted among a systematic random sample of parents/caregivers of children with diagnosis of ASD in Muscat, Oman. Depressive symptoms were quantified using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. FINDINGS: The response rate was at 86% (n = 80) and the prevalence of depressive symptoms, at 71.3% (95% confidence interval, 60.5-80.1). Logistic regression analyses indicated that unemployment and being the sole parent/caregiver in the family were both significant correlates of depressive symptoms. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: With an increase in the number of children being diagnosed with ASD, multidimensional preventive and remedial service programs for parents/caregivers will be essential.
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2. Baker EK, Richdale AL, Hazi A, Prendergast LA. {{Assessing a Hyperarousal Hypothesis of Insomnia in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {Autism Res};2019 (Mar 21)
This study aimed to investigate the relationship between sleep, psychopathology (anxiety, depression and presleep arousal) symptoms, and cortisol in adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The sample composed of 29 adults with ASD (51.7% males) and 29 control adults (51.7% males) aged 21-44 years. Thirteen adults with ASD were medicated for a comorbid diagnosis of anxiety and/or depression (ASD-Med), while the remaining 16 adults with ASD were not medicated for such diagnoses (ASD-Only). Participants completed a questionnaire battery, 14-day sleep/wake diary and 14-day actigraphy assessment. On one day during the data collection period, participants collected five saliva samples, hourly, prior to sleep and two morning samples; immediately upon waking and 30 min thereafter for the analysis of cortisol. Cortisol 1 hr prior to habitual sleep onset time was associated with poorer sleep efficiency in both ASD groups and increased wake after sleep onset duration (ASD-Only). Higher subjective somatic arousal was also associated with increased sleep onset latency, regardless of group, and poorer sleep efficiency in the ASD-Only group. ASD-Only participants had significantly greater reductions in evening cortisol concentrations compared to both ASD-Med and control participants. No significant group differences were found for the cortisol awakening response. Findings suggest a hyperarousal hypothesis of insomnia in adults with ASD. Moreover, the low cortisol levels observed in ASD-Only adults suggest dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Longitudinal studies exploring the interplay between insomnia, anxiety and HPA axis regulation across the lifespan in those with ASD are warranted. LAY SUMMARY: Both objective (cortisol) and subjective (somatic) physiological arousal were associated with poor sleep quality in adults on the autism spectrum. Adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who were not medicated for a comorbid diagnosis of anxiety and/or depression also had dampened cortisol secretion, suggesting a dysregulation of the hypothalamic pituitary axis. Longitudinal studies investigating the relationship between sleep, psychopathology symptoms and physiological arousal in autistic individuals are warranted. Autism Res 2019. (c) 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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3. Ben Shalom D, Bonneh YS. {{Editorial: The Medial Prefrontal Cortex and Integration in ASD and Typical Cognition}}. {Front Hum Neurosci};2019;13:74.
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4. Bradshaw J, Shic F, Holden AN, Horowitz EJ, Barrett AC, German TC, Vernon TW. {{The Use of Eye Tracking as a Biomarker of Treatment Outcome in a Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial for Young Children with Autism}}. {Autism Res};2019 (Mar 20)
There is a pressing need for objective, quantifiable outcome measures in intervention trials for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The current study investigated the use of eye tracking as a biomarker of treatment response in the context of a pilot randomized clinical trial of treatment for young children with ASD. Participants included 28 children with ASD, aged 18-48 months, who were randomized to one of two conditions: Pivotal Response Intervention for Social Motivation (PRISM) or community treatment as usual (TAU). Eye-tracking and behavioral assessment of developmental functioning were administered at Time 1 (prior to randomization) and at Time 2 (after 6 months of intervention). Two well-established eye-tracking paradigms were used to measure social attention: social preference and face scanning. As a context for understanding relationships between social attention and developmental ability, we first examined how scanning patterns at Time 1 were associated with concurrent developmental functioning and compared to those of 23 age-matched typically developing (TD) children. Changes in scanning patterns from Time 1 to Time 2 were then compared between PRISM and TAU groups and associated with behavioral change over time. Results showed that the social preference paradigm differentiated children with ASD from TD children. In addition, attention during face scanning was associated with language and adaptive communication skills at Time 1 and change in language skills from Time 1 to Time 2. These findings highlight the importance of examining targeted biomarkers that measure unique aspects of child functioning and that are well-matched to proposed mechanisms of change. Autism Res 2019. (c) 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: Biomarkers have the potential to provide important information about how and why early interventions effect positive change for young children with ASD. The current study suggests that eye-tracking measures of social attention can be used to track change in specific areas of development, such as language, and points to the need for targeted eye-tracking paradigms designed to measure specific behavioral changes. Such biomarkers could inform the development of optimal, individualized, and adaptive interventions for young children with ASD.
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5. Cheng H, Yu J, Xu L, Li J. {{Power spectrum of spontaneous cerebral homodynamic oscillation shows a distinct pattern in autism spectrum disorder}}. {Biomed Opt Express};2019 (Mar 1);10(3):1383-1392.
Spontaneous hemodynamic fluctuations recorded by functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) from bilateral temporal lobes were analyzed on 25 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and 22 typically developing (TD) children. By frequency domain analysis, a new characteristic was uncovered that the power spectrum of low frequency cerebral hemodynamic oscillation showed a distinct pattern in ASD. More specifically, at the frequency of 0.0200 Hz, the power of oxygenated hemoglobin was larger for TD than ASD, whereas in the band of 0.0267-0.0333 Hz, the power of deoxygenated hemoglobin was larger for ASD than TD. Using these new features and those identified previously together as feature variables for the support vector machine (SVM) classifier, accurate classification between ASD and TD was achieved with a sensitivity of 90.2%, specificity of 95.1% and accuracy of 92.7%.
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6. Furlano R, Kelley EA. {{Do Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Understand Their Academic Competencies?}}. {J Autism Dev Disord};2019 (Mar 19)
Research suggests that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are unaware of their competencies in many domains. The current study examines whether self-perception of academic competency differs in children with ASD compared to typically-developing (TD) controls and whether estimations change after providing feedback. Sixty participants, 10-15 years of age, completed academic tasks and were asked to predict their performance before and after each task. The ASD group overestimated their performance compared to the TD group except when provided with feedback. The ASD group was significantly more accurate with their perceptions when receiving feedback, which suggests that they are able to process concrete feedback. Future research should attempt to understand the underlying mechanisms and functions of this bias.
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7. Garg P, Sharp AJ. {{Screening for rare epigenetic variations in autism and schizophrenia}}. {Hum Mutat};2019 (Mar 21)
While many studies have led to the identification of rare sequence variants linked with susceptibility to autism and schizophrenia, the contribution of rare epigenetic variations (epivariations) in these disorders remains largely unexplored. Previously we presented evidence that epivariations occur relatively frequently in the human genome, and likely contribute to a subset of congenital and neurodevelopmental disorders through the disruption of dosage-sensitive genes. Here we extend this approach, studying methylation profiles from 297 samples with autism and 767 cases with schizophrenia, identifying 84 and 268 rare epivariations in these two cohorts, respectively, that were absent from 4,860 population controls. We observed multiple features associated with these epivariations that support their pathogenic relevance, including (a) a significant enrichment for epivariations in schizophrenic individuals at genes previously linked with schizophrenia, (b) increased brain expression of genes associated with epivariations found in autism cases compared with controls, (c) in autism families, a significant excess of epivariations found specifically in affected versus unaffected sibs, (d) Gene Ontology terms linked with epivariations found in autism, including « D1 dopamine receptor binding. » Our study provides additional evidence that rare epivariations likely contribute to the mutational spectra underlying neurodevelopmental disorders.
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8. Healy S, Aigner CJ, Haegele JA, Patterson F. {{Meeting the 24-hr movement guidelines: An update on US youth with autism spectrum disorder from the 2016 National Survey of Children’s Health}}. {Autism Res};2019 (Mar 20)
The purpose of this study was to examine how adherence to the physical activity (PA), screen-time (ST), and sleep duration guidelines differ between youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and youth with typical development (TD). A secondary objective was to assess how PA, ST, and sleep duration varied among youth with ASD by age and ASD severity. Utilizing the 2016 National Survey of Children’s Health data, parental reports of time spent by youth in PA, ST, and sleep were used to determine adherence to the 24-hr movement guidelines for 1008 youth with ASD and 34 489 youth with TD. Multivariate logistic regression analyses determined that children with ASD were less likely to meet the guidelines for PA, ST, and sleep duration, and adolescents with ASD were less likely to meet the guidelines for PA and ST than participants with TD. Furthermore, logistic regression analyses determined adolescents with severe ASD to be less likely to meet the sleep guideline compared to adolescents with mild ASD. Overall, youth with ASD were significantly less likely to adhere to all three guidelines. The findings highlight the breadth of health behaviors that require intervention to counteract the poorer health status among youth with ASD. Autism Res 2019, 00: 1-11. (c) 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: New health recommendations suggest children and adolescents should have at least 1 hr of physical activity, no more than 2 hr of screen-time (e.g., television), and 9-11 hr of sleep (or 8-10 hr for children aged 14 or older) every day. This article looked at how children and adolescents with autism meet these new guidelines. The two main results were that: (a) children with autism were less likely to meet all three guidelines compared to children without autism, and (b) adolescents with autism were less likely to meet the guidelines for physical activity and screen-time.
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9. Imm P, White T, Durkin MS. {{Assessment of racial and ethnic bias in autism spectrum disorder prevalence estimates from a US surveillance system}}. {Autism};2019 (Mar 20):1362361319827510.
This study assessed potential under-ascertainment of autism spectrum disorder due to missing administrative information for Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black children within the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network. We analyzed data from two Network sites (Colorado and Wisconsin) for surveillance years 2012 and 2014 to determine whether children excluded from autism spectrum disorder prevalence estimates due to missing residency and other information differed from those included by race and ethnicity. We used multiple approaches to impute missing information to evaluate impacts on racial and ethnic disparities in autism spectrum disorder prevalence. Compared with confirmed autism spectrum disorder cases, those excluded due to missing residency were more than twice as likely to be Hispanic (19% vs 44%; p < 0.002), yet the number of cases excluded due to missing residency information was too small to account for prevalence differences. Confirmation of autism spectrum disorder case status was more likely for children with relevant health records than for those with school records only. Moreover, relevant health records were more likely to be missing for Black and Hispanic children than for White children. Observed disparities in autism spectrum disorder prevalence were not accounted for by missing demographic data, but may reflect disparities in healthcare access for developmental evaluations. Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
10. Kuhlthau KA, Luberto CM, Traeger L, Millstein RA, Perez GK, Lindly OJ, Chad-Friedman E, Proszynski J, Park ER. {{A Virtual Resiliency Intervention for Parents of Children with Autism: A Randomized Pilot Trial}}. {J Autism Dev Disord};2019 (Mar 21)
Parents of children with Autism experience high levels of stress. Resiliency is the ability to cope and adapt when faced with stressful events. This randomized, waitlist controlled pilot trial examines the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of an adapted virtual mind-body group intervention for parents of children with ASD. The intervention was feasible and acceptable. The immediate treatment group showed no difference in distress and greater improvement in resiliency and stress reactivity/coping relative to the delayed treatment group, (M difference 5.78; p = .038 and M difference 7.78; p = .001 respectively). Findings showed promising feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy for parents of children with ASD.
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11. Lavelle TA, Weinstein MC, Newhouse JP, Munir K, Kuhlthau KA, Prosser LA. {{Parent Preferences for Health Outcomes Associated with Autism Spectrum Disorders}}. {Pharmacoeconomics};2019 (Mar 21)
BACKGROUND: Few studies have used preference-based quality-of-life outcomes to assess how autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) affect children and parents, and none have examined variation by ASD severity. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to derive parent valuations of child and parent health associated with varying ASD severity levels. METHODS: Parents of children aged 3-17 years with and without ASD were selected from a nationally representative research panel to complete a survey. We asked parents time trade-off (TTO) questions to value their own and their child’s current health. Parents of children with ASD were asked to report the severity of their child’s core ASD symptoms. We calculated utility values from each TTO amount, and used a two-part regression model to estimate the change in parent-reported child health utility, as well as parent health utility, associated with ASD diagnosis and increasing symptom severity, controlling for respondent and child characteristics. RESULTS: Sixty-nine percent of parents responded (final sample size was 135 in the ASD group and 120 in the comparison group). In adjusted analyses, there was a 0.12 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.03-0.21) decrease in the parent-reported health utility of children with ASD, a 15% decrease from the mean health utility of children without ASD. On average, having a child with ASD was not significantly associated with a decrease in parent health utility, but there was a 0.14 (95% CI 0.01-0.26) reduction in health utility among parents of children with severe ASD, a 15% decrease from the comparison group mean. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, ASD had a significant impact on parent-reported child health utility, and the health utility of parents of children with severe ASD.
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12. Lee BK, Gross R, Francis RW, Karlsson H, Schendel DE, Sourander A, Reichenberg A, Parner ET, Hornig M, Yaniv A, Leonard H, Sandin S. {{Birth seasonality and risk of autism spectrum disorder}}. {Eur J Epidemiol};2019 (Mar 20)
Season of birth has been hypothesized to be a risk factor for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, the evidence has been mixed and limited due to methodological challenges. We examine ASD birth trends for 5,464,628 births across 5 countries. ASD birth prevalence data were obtained from the International Collaboration for Autism Registry Epidemiology database, including children born in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Western Australia. Empirical mode decomposition and cosinor modeling were used to assess seasonality. We show seasonal variation in ASD births for the countries of Finland and Sweden. There was a modest increase in risk for children born in the fall and a modest decrease in risk for children born in the spring. Solar radiation levels around conception and the postnatal period were inversely correlated with seasonal trends in ASD risk. In the first multinational study of birth seasonality of ASD, there was evidence supporting the presence of seasonal trends in Finland and Sweden. The observations that risk was highest for fall births (i.e., conceived in the winter) and lowest for spring births (i.e., conceived in the summer), and sunlight levels during critical neurodevelopmental periods explained much of the seasonal trends, are consistent with the hypothesis that a seasonally fluctuating risk factor may influence risk of ASD.
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13. Lee GK, Krizova K, Shivers CM. {{Needs, strain, coping, and mental health among caregivers of individuals with autism spectrum disorder: A moderated mediation analysis}}. {Autism};2019 (Mar 20):1362361319833678.
This study investigated the relationships among caregiving strain, coping, and mental health among caregivers of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and the mediational moderation of caregiver needs. One hundred and ninety-three caregivers of individuals with ASD completed an online survey. Results showed that maladaptive coping behaviors were significant in mediating the relationship between strain and mental health. Professional service and emotional caregiving needs moderated the relationship between maladaptive coping and mental health at times of high caregiving strain, but not involvement, health information, and instrumental support needs. Results highlighted the negative effect of maladaptive coping, as well as professional service and emotional support needs were salient in moderating coping and mental health in times of high caregiving strain.
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14. Liu CT, Chen LM. {{Comprehending conjunctive entailment of disjunction among individuals with Asperger syndrome}}. {Clin Linguist Phon};2019 (Mar 20):1-15.
Although individuals with Asperger syndrome (AS) are often described to be semantic-pragmatic disordered, it is still unclear to what extent their semantic comprehension is impaired. The primary goal of this study is to understand the sentence comprehension of adults with AS by investigating their reading processes of sentences involving the conjunctive entailment of disjunction. More specifically, their on-line processes of reading globally ambiguous sentences containing huo ‘or’ in Mandarin Chinese, which can be understood as either a conjunction or a disjunction in simple negative statements, were recorded. The results indicated that both AS and typically developing groups tended to interpret the ambiguous huo as a conjunction. Additionally, both groups consistently spent significantly more time judging the appropriateness of disjunction-biased sentences. It is argued that, for adults with AS, at least some aspects of semantic knowledge are intact. Future studies are suggested to focus on different sentence types to further explore to what extent that semantics is impaired among individuals with AS.
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15. Maddox BB, Rump KM, Stahmer AC, Suhrheinrich J, Rieth SR, Nahmias AS, Nuske HJ, Reisinger EM, Crabbe SR, Bronstein B, Mandell DS. {{Concordance between a U.S. Educational Autism Classification and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule}}. {J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol};2019 (Mar 20):1-7.
States in the United States differ in how they determine special education eligibility for autism services. Few states include an autism-specific diagnostic tool in their evaluation. In research, the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS for first edition, ADOS-2 for second edition) is considered the gold-standard autism assessment. The purpose of this study was to estimate the proportion of children with an educational classification of autism who exceed the ADOS/ADOS-2 threshold for autism spectrum (concordance rate). Data were drawn from 4 school-based studies across 2 sites (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and San Diego, California). Participants comprised 627 children (2-12 years of age; 83% male) with an autism educational classification. Analyses included (a) calculating the concordance rate between educational and ADOS/ADOS-2 classifications and (b) estimating the associations between concordance and child’s cognitive ability, study site, and ADOS/ADOS-2 administration year using logistic regression. More San Diego participants (97.5%, all assessed with the ADOS-2) met ADOS/ADOS-2 classification than did Philadelphia participants assessed with the ADOS-2 (92.2%) or ADOS (82.9%). Children assessed more recently were assessed with the ADOS-2; this group was more likely to meet ADOS/ADOS-2 classification than the group assessed longer ago with the ADOS. Children with higher IQ were less likely to meet ADOS/ADOS-2 classification. Most children with an educational classification of autism meet ADOS/ADOS-2 criteria, but results differ by site and by ADOS version and/or recency of assessment. Educational classification may be a reasonable but imperfect measure to include children in community-based trials.
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16. Rios C, Camargo Junior KR. {{[Specialism, specificity and identity – the controversiessurrounding autism in the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS)]}}. {Cien Saude Colet};2019 (Mar);24(3):1111-1120.
The passing of federal law 12,764/2012 marked a victory for the political activism of parents of autistic individuals in Brazil, but it also drew attention to the serious antagonism between parents of autistic individuals and the mental health network. This article examines the perspectives of social actors involved in the controversy that took place after the enactment of this law and seeks to show why this controversy precedes the passing of the law and is not resolved by it. The argument is that the troubled relationship between the political movement of parents of autistic individuals and the mental health network can be better understood when the construction and consolidation of a network of expertise around autism spectrum disorders as being inseparable from the construction of a social and political identity for autistic people in Brazil is taken into consideration. The article draws inspiration from the Studies of Expertise and Experience, which discuss the new regime of relations between scientific research and civil society. Nevertheless, it is also seen that the consolidation of this expertise network has arisen despite the absence of a broad specialized treatment network and of a profound reconfiguration in the regime of scientific research and production of knowledge about autism in Brazil.
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17. Sanz-Cervera P, Pastor-Cerezuela G, Gonzalez-Sala F, Tarraga-Minguez R, Fernandez-Andres MI. {{Corrigendum: Sensory Processing in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and/or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in the Home and Classroom Contexts}}. {Front Psychol};2019;10:443.
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01772.].
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18. Van De Cruys S, Perrykkad K, Hohwy J. {{Explaining hyper-sensitivity and hypo-responsivity in autism with a common predictive coding-based mechanism}}. {Cogn Neurosci};2019 (Mar 21):1-2.
Ward’s signal detection theory-based framework elucidates some aspects of interindividual differences in sensitivity, but, we argue, obscures others. Specifically, it disregards the important challenge of inferring the meaning of sensory inputs. Within Bayesian predictive coding accounts, the meaning is given by inferences to more deeply hidden causes of sensory inputs and is generally the basis for initiating context-appropriate (e.g., social) behavior. As such, when inference of hierarchical causes is hampered, as accounts of autism based on deficient precision estimation imply, a form of hyporesponsivity can emerge (together with the hypersensitivity already highlighted by Ward).
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19. Wijker C, Leontjevas R, Spek A, Enders-Slegers MJ. {{Effects of Dog Assisted Therapy for Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Exploratory Randomized Controlled Trial}}. {J Autism Dev Disord};2019 (Mar 21)
Effective treatments of highly prevalent stress-related outcomes such as depression and anxiety are understudied in adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A randomized controlled trial with baseline, post-intervention, and 10-week follow-up, that explores the effects of animal assisted therapy (AAT) was conducted. In total, 53 adults with ASD with normal to high intelligence were randomized in an intervention (N = 27) versus waiting list control group (N = 26). The remarkable adherence to the therapy program by study participants and the program’s clinically relevant effects indicate that AAT with dogs can be used to reduce perceived stress and symptoms of agoraphobia, and to improve social awareness and communication in adults with ASD with normal to high intelligence.
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20. Zhang J, Meng Y, Wu C, Xiang YT, Yuan Z. {{Non-speech and Speech Pitch Perception among Cantonese-speaking Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: an ERP Study}}. {Neurosci Lett};2019 (Mar 16)
The present study compared how Cantonese-speaking children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their typically developing counterparts perceived speech pitch and non-speech pitch information using ERP measurement. Sixteen children with ASD (mean age = 10.42 years, SD = 2.12 years) and sixteen normal controls (mean age = 9.48 years, SD =.86 years) participated in two experiments, in which Cantonese lexical tone contrasts and non-speech pitch variations were presented to children following an oddball paradigm when they watched a silent movie. The results showed that: 1) When processing speech pitch contour, the two groups did not differ in the amplitude of mismatch response (p-MMR), while typically developing controls showed larger mismatch negativity (MMN) responses than children with ASD. In the processing of speech pitch height, more positive p-MMR was observed among children with ASD than among normal controls and stronger MMN was found for typically developing children than for children with ASD. 2) For the processing of non-speech pitch, MMN rather than p-MMR was observed and the two groups did not differ significantly with each other in the amplitudes of MMN. These results indicated that Cantonese-speaking children with ASD manifested impaired ability when processing speech pitch information (i.e., lexical tone), which was in line with previous research. However, they did not show the advantage in processing non-speech or auditory pitch information, which was not in agreement with the previous studies. Results were discussed from the perspective of how language background (i.e., Cantonese) might shape the perceptive abilities of children.
