1. Cage E, Di Monaco J, Newell V. {{Understanding, attitudes and dehumanisation towards autistic people}}. {Autism : the international journal of research and practice}. 2018: 1362361318811290.
Research suggests that while individuals may self-report positive attitudes towards autism, dehumanising attitudes (seeing another as less than human) may still prevail. This study investigated knowledge, openness and dehumanising attitudes of non-autistic people towards autistic people. A total of 361 participants completed a survey measuring autism openness, knowledge and experience, along with a measure of dehumanisation. Results showed that knowledge of autism was comparable to past research and females were more open towards autism. Findings also indicated evidence for dehumanisation, with a particular denial of ‘human uniqueness’ traits. Furthermore, dehumanisation was related to openness towards autism. These findings have implications for targeting attitudes to reduce stigma associated with autism.
Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
2. Cariveau T, La Cruz Montilla A, Gonzalez E, Ball S. {{A review of error correction procedures during instruction for children with developmental disabilities}}. {Journal of applied behavior analysis}. 2018.
Error correction procedures are remedial strategies presented following an incorrect response that increases the probability that a correct response will occur in the future. Error correction is commonly used during skill acquisition programs for children with developmental disabilities; however, the specific strategy used may differ considerably. Recent comparative studies have examined the effect of numerous error correction procedures on the efficiency of acquisition for children with developmental disabilities. Despite considerable merit, minor procedural differences and unique terms for similar procedures likely affect comparisons across studies. Here, we clarify the procedures and findings of these studies and suggest areas of future research.
Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
3. Conine DE, Vollmer TR. {{Relative preferences for edible and leisure stimuli in children with autism}}. {Journal of applied behavior analysis}. 2018.
Prior researchers have reported a tendency for individuals with developmental disabilities to select edible items more often than leisure items when those items are presented together in stimulus preference assessments. However, children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), with whom many behavior analysts currently practice, are underrepresented in this body of literature. We conducted a replication of prior research with 26 children with ASD. Results indicated that edible items were more likely than leisure items to rank highly in our preference assessments, in concurrence with prior research. However, leisure items were also selected more often overall than in prior research, and significant individual variation was observed. These results suggest that preference assessments containing both edible and leisure stimuli can yield useful information for behavior analysts providing services to children with ASD, and the degree of preference for edible items noted in prior work may not be reflected in this contemporary population.
Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
4. Hagberg KW, Robijn AL, Jick S. {{Maternal depression and antidepressant use during pregnancy and the risk of autism spectrum disorder in offspring}}. {Clinical epidemiology}. 2018; 10: 1599-612.
Background: Results of some studies suggest that prenatal antidepressant exposure increases the risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in offspring, while other studies suggest that depression independently increases the risk of having a child with ASD. Thus, confounding by indication is a concern. Objective: The aim of this study was to estimate the risk of ASD in offspring of women who were exposed to antidepressants and/or had depression during pregnancy compared to unexposed women. Materials and methods: We conducted a cohort study with nested sibling case-control analysis. Using the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD), we identified mother- baby pairs where the mother had >/=12 months of history before the delivery date and the child had >/=3 years of follow-up. Exposures during pregnancy were classified as 1) depression treated with antidepressants, 2) untreated depression, 3) other indications for antidepressant use, and 4) 4:1 match of unexposed women with no history of depression or antidepressant use. We calculated the prevalence of ASD and relative risk (RR) with 95% CI. In the sibling analysis, we compared exposure among ASD cases to that of non-ASD siblings born to the same mother. We calculated ORs and 95% CIs for women with treated and untreated depression, compared to unexposed. Results: We identified 2,154 offspring with ASD among 194,494 mother-baby pairs. Compared to unexposed, the RR of ASD was 1.72 (95% CI 1.54-1.93) for treated depression and 1.50 (95% CI 1.28-1.75) for untreated depression, while the RR was not elevated in women who received antidepressants for other indications (RR =0.73, 95% CI 0.41-1.29). Additional analyses to assess the effects of severity of depression suggest that the risk of ASD in offspring increases with increasing severity, not with the antidepressant treatment. The results of the sibling analysis were similar to the main analysis. Conclusion: Women with depression during pregnancy have an increased risk of having a child with ASD, regardless of antidepressant use.
Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
5. Hertz-Picciotto I, Schmidt RJ, Walker CK, Bennett DH, Oliver M, Shedd-Wise KM, LaSalle JM, Giulivi C, Puschner B, Thomas J, Roa DL, Pessah IN, Van de Water J, Tancredi DJ, Ozonoff S. {{A Prospective Study of Environmental Exposures and Early Biomarkers in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Design, Protocols, and Preliminary Data from the MARBLES Study}}. {Environmental health perspectives}. 2018; 126(11): 117004.
BACKGROUND: Until recently, environmental factors in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were largely ignored. Over the last decade, altered risks from lifestyle, medical, chemical, and other factors have emerged through various study designs: whole population cohorts linked to diagnostic and/or exposure-related databases, large case-control studies, and smaller cohorts of children at elevated risk for ASD. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to introduce the MARBLES (Markers of Autism Risk in Babies-Learning Early Signs) prospective study and its goals, motivate the enhanced-risk cohort design, describe protocols and main exposures of interest, and present initial descriptive results for the study population. METHODS: Families having one or more previous child with ASD were contacted before or during a pregnancy, and once the woman became pregnant, were invited to enroll. Data and biological samples were collected throughout pregnancy, at birth, and until the child’s third birthday. Neurodevelopment was assessed longitudinally. The study began enrolling in 2006 and is ongoing. RESULTS: As of 30 June 2018, 463 pregnant mothers have enrolled. Most mothers ([Formula: see text]) were thirty years of age or over, including 7.9% who are fourty years of age or over. The sample includes 22% Hispanic and another 25% nonHispanic Black, Asian, or multiracial participants; 24% were born outside the United States. Retention is high: 84% of participants whose pregnancies did not end in miscarriage completed the study or are still currently active. Among children evaluated at 36 months of age, 24% met criteria for ASD, and another 25% were assessed as nonASD nontypical development. CONCLUSION: Few environmental studies of ASD prospectively obtain early-life exposure measurements. The MARBLES study fills this gap with extensive data and specimen collection beginning in pregnancy and has achieved excellent retention in an ethnically diverse study population. The 24% familial recurrence risk is consistent with recent reported risks observed in large samples of siblings of children diagnosed with ASD. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP535.
Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
6. Howell BW, Smith KM. {{Synaptic Structural Protein Dysfunction Leads to Altered Excitation Inhibition Ratios in Models of Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {Pharmacological research}. 2018.
Genetics is believed to play a key role in the development of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and a plethora of potential candidate genes have been identified by genetic characterization of patients, their family members and controls. To make sense of this information investigators have searched for common pathways and downstream properties of neural networks that are regulated by these genes. For instance, several candidate genes encode synaptic proteins, and one hypothesis that has emerged is that disruption of the synaptic excitation and inhibition (E/I) balance would destabilize neural processing and lead to ASD phenotypes. Some compelling evidence for this has come from the analyses of mouse and culture models with defects in synaptic structural proteins, which influence several aspects of synapse biology and is the subject of this review. Remaining challenges include identifying the specifics that distinguish ASD from other psychiatric diseases and designing more direct tests of the E/I balance hypothesis.
Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
7. Hu X, Yin L, Situ M, Guo K, Yang P, Zhang M, Huang Y. {{Parents’ impaired emotion recognition abilities are related to children’s autistic symptoms in autism spectrum disorder}}. {Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment}. 2018; 14: 2973-80.
Objective: We aimed to explore whether parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) had impaired emotion recognition abilities and whether this deficit was related to their children’s autistic symptoms. Methods: The autistic symptoms of 31 ASD children were assessed using the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R). Fifty parents of ASD children and 34 parents of typically developing (TD) children completed an emotion recognition task (ERT). Results: The numbers of correct ERT responses were lower for parents of ASD children than for parents of TD children with respect to recognizing sadness, disgust, fear, and all emotions (P=0.01, 0.04, 0.02, and 0.00, respectively). Controlled for parental age, gender, and the intelligence quotients of both the parents and children, a negative correlation was found between the total number of correct ERT responses for parents of ASD children and these children’s « restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior » scores on the ADI-R (r=-0.32; P=0.03). Conclusion: Parents of ASD children showed impaired emotion recognition abilities compared with parents of TD children. This parental deficit in emotion recognition ability was related to the autistic symptoms of ASD children.
Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
8. Iglesias Vazquez L, Canals J, Arija V. {{Review and meta-analysis found that prenatal folic acid was associated with a 58% reduction in autism but had no effect on mental and motor development}}. {Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992)}. 2018.
AIM: The impact of prenatal folic acid on children’s neurodevelopment and the risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) remain unclear and this review and meta-analysis aimed to quantify any associations. METHODS: We systematically searched PubMed, Scopus and The Cochrane Library until June 2018 with no language restrictions. Standardised mean differences and odds ratio with 95% confidence intervals are used to describe any associations between folic acid and mental development, motor development and ASD. RESULTS: The search strategy identified 647 papers and 16 were finally included in the meta-analysis after the application of the exclusion criteria. These provided a total cohort size of 756,365 children aged 11 months to 15 years from 10 countries. The main finding was that prenatal use of folic acid was associated with a 58% reduction in the risk of ASD in children. We were surprised that better scores for mental development were associated with low prenatal exposure to folic acid. CONCLUSION: Although the results should be interpreted with caution, they showed that routine prenatal supplements of folic acid were associated with significantly lower levels of ASD. Further studies are needed to reach a firm conclusion, given the multifactorial aetiology of neurodevelopment. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
9. Lei XY, Li YJ, Ou JJ, Li YM. {{Association between parental body mass index and autism spectrum disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis}}. {European child & adolescent psychiatry}. 2018.
Studies have examined the association between parental body mass index (BMI) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in offspring, with inconsistent results, especially regarding maternal obesity, overweight and underweight. Cochrane Library, EMBASE, PubMed and PsycINFO databases were searched up to March 2018 for relevant observational studies with no language restriction. Our literature search identified 13 eligible studies for meta-analysis (involving 943,293 children and 30,337 cases). For maternal BMI (13 studies), both maternal obesity [OR 1.41 (95% CI 1.19-1.67)] and maternal overweight [OR 1.16 (95% CI 1.05-1.27)] were significantly associated with ASD, while maternal underweight was not associated with ASD [OR 1.08 (95% CI 0.98-1.20)]. For paternal BMI (three studies), no association was found (paternal obesity: OR 1.28, 95% CI 0.94-1.74; overweight: OR 1.07, 95% CI 0.99-1.15; underweight: OR 1.12, 95% CI 0.87-1.44). Pooled estimates were robust in sensitivity analysis and subgroup analyses. Publication bias may exist for studies assessing maternal BMI and ASD risk, but the filled estimates were not altered. Relative to normal weight, maternal obesity and overweight were significantly associated with increased ASD risk, while maternal underweight was not associated with ASD. Although no association between paternal BMI and ASD was found, current evidence is limited (three studies). Future studies are warranted to address more confounding factors and to identify potential mediators of the association, but pre-pregnancy weight control is suggested.
Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
10. Li WH, Hu LF, Yuan L, Hao G, Zhu ZW. {{The Application of the First Year Inventory for ASD Screening in China}}. {Journal of pediatric nursing}. 2018.
PURPOSE: The First Year Inventory (FYI) is a parent-report instrument, and is developed to assess behaviors of 12-month-old infants that could suggest risk for an eventual diagnosis of autism. This study was designed to examine the application of the FYI in the Chinese community. DESIGN AND METHODS: FYIs were completed at a community health center by 541 families during the child’s physical examination at 12months of age from 2013 to 2015. The weighted risk scores used in this study were based on US norms, and compared the FYI differences between China and the U.S. RESULTS: The total risk scores ranged from 5 to 42 points; the 95th percentile cutoff was 27.00(9.8 points higher than the 95th percentile cutoff in the US), the 98th percentile cutoff was 29.66(7.04 points higher than the 98th percentile cutoff in the US), and the 99th percentile cutoff was 31.83. Higher risk scores were found for boys than girls. Mothers with a junior college education reported significantly higher FYI risk scores than other three groups including high school, college graduates and post-graduates. CONCLUSIONS: There were no significant effects of birth parity, investigator, or investigation year on risk scores. Large-scale longitudinal research is encouraged in the future to develop an early detection model of autism in China.
Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
11. Mari-Bauset S, Donat-Vargas C, Llopis-Gonzalez A, Mari-Sanchis A, Peraita-Costa I, Llopis-Morales J, Morales-Suarez-Varela M. {{Endocrine Disruptors and Autism Spectrum Disorder in Pregnancy: A Review and Evaluation of the Quality of the Epidemiological Evidence}}. {Children (Basel, Switzerland)}. 2018; 5(12).
Exposure to environmental contaminants during pregnancy has been linked to adverse health outcomes later in life. Notable among these pollutants are the endocrine disruptors chemicals (EDCs), which are ubiquitously present in the environment and they have been measured and quantified in the fetus. In this systematic review, our objective was to summarize the epidemiological research on the potential association between prenatal exposure to EDCs and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) published from 2005 to 2016. The Navigation Guide Systematic Review Methodology was applied. A total of 17 studies met the inclusion criteria for this review, including: five cohorts and 12 case-control. According to the definitions specified in the Navigation Guide, we rated the quality of evidence for a relationship between prenatal exposure to EDCs and ASD as « moderate ». Although the studies generally showed a positive association between EDCs and ASD, after considering the strengths and limitations, we concluded that the overall strength of evidence supporting an association between prenatal exposure to EDCs and later ASD in humans remains « limited » and inconclusive. Further well-conducted prospective studies are warranted to clarify the role of EDCs on ASD development.
Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
12. Muglia P, Filosi M, Da Ros L, Kam-Thong T, Nardocci F, Trabetti E, Ratti E, Rizzini P, Zuddas A, Bernardina BD, Domenici E. {{The Italian autism network (ITAN): a resource for molecular genetics and biomarker investigations}}. {BMC psychiatry}. 2018; 18(1): 369.
BACKGROUND: A substantial genetic component accounts for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) aetiology, with some rare and common genetic risk factors recently identified. Large collections of DNAs from thoroughly characterized ASD families are an essential step to confirm genetic risk factors, identify new variants and investigate genotype-phenotype correlations. The Italian Autism Network aimed at constituting a clinical database and a biorepository of samples derived from ASD subjects and first-degree relatives extensively and consistently characterized by child psychiatry centers in Italy. METHODS: The study was approved by the ethical committee of the University of Verona, the coordinating site, and by the local ethical committees of each recruiting site. Certified staff was specifically trained at each site for the overall study conduct, for clinical protocol administration and handling of biological material. A centralized database was developed to collect clinical assessment and medical records from each recruiting site. Children were eligible for recruitment based on the following inclusion criteria: age 4-18 years, at least one parent or legal guardian giving voluntary written consent, meeting DSM-IV criteria for Autistic Disorder or Asperger’s Disorder or Pervasive Developmental Disorder NOS. Affected individuals were assessed by full psychiatric, neurological and physical examination, evaluation with ADI-R and ADOS scales, cognitive assessment with Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children or Preschool and Primary, Leiter International Performance Scale or Griffiths Mental Developmental Scale. Additional evaluations included language assessment, the Krug Asperger’s Disorder Index, and instrumental examination such as EEG and structural MRI. DNA, RNA and plasma were collected from eligible individuals and relatives. A central laboratory was established to host the biorepository, perform DNA and RNA extraction and lymphocytes immortalisation. DISCUSSION: The study has led to an extensive collection of biological samples associated with standardised clinical assessments from a network of expert clinicians and psychologists. Eighteen sites have received ADI/ADOS training, thirteen of which have been actively recruiting. The clinical database currently includes information on 812 individuals from 249 families, and the biorepository has samples for 98% of the subjects. This effort has generated a highly valuable resource for conducting clinical and genetic research of ASD, amenable to further expansion.
Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
13. Nilsson Jobs E, Bolte S, Falck-Ytter T. {{Spotting Signs of Autism in 3-Year-Olds: Comparing Information from Parents and Preschool Staff}}. {Journal of autism and developmental disorders}. 2018.
Preschool informants may provide valuable information about symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in young children. We compared the diagnostic accuracy of ratings by preschool staff with those by parents of 3-year-old children using the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment Preschool Forms. The sample consisted of 32 children at familial risk for ASD without diagnosis, 10 children at risk for ASD with diagnosis, and 14 low-risk typically developing controls. Preschool staff ratings were more accurate than parent ratings at differentiating children with and without ASD, and more closely associated with clinician-rated symptoms. These results point to the value of information from preschool informants in early detection and diagnostic assessments.
Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
14. Stronach S, Wiegand S, Mentz E. {{Brief Report: Autism Knowledge and Stigma in University and Community Samples}}. {Journal of autism and developmental disorders}. 2018.
Increased public understanding of autism may lead to better access to services and participation in the community for individuals with autism. The goal of this study was to explore autism understanding and stigma among university students, and general community members recruited at a state fair. Participants between 18 and 79 years of age (n = 478) completed the Autism Stigma and Knowledge Questionnaire (ASK-Q; Harrison et al., Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 47(10):3281-3295, 2017). All ASK-Q means fell within the adequate knowledge range, indicating relatively high levels of autism knowledge and low levels of stigma. ASK-Q scores were correlated with gender, education, and self-ratings of understanding but not age. The results of this study suggest the need for continued inquiry into metrics that indicate autism understanding and stigma.
Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)
15. Taylor BJ, Sanders KB, Kyle M, Pedersen KA, Veenstra-Vanderweele J, Siegel M. {{Inpatient Psychiatric Treatment of Serious Behavioral Problems in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): Specialized Versus General Inpatient Units}}. {Journal of autism and developmental disorders}. 2018.
Psychiatric hospitalization of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is common, but there is little comparative information available on different psychiatric hospital treatment models. Children with ASD ages 4-20 were enrolled upon admission to either a specialized (N = 53) or a general child psychiatric unit (N = 27). Caregivers completed the Aberrant Behavioral Checklist-Irritability Sub-scale (ABC-I) at admission, discharge, and 2 months post-discharge and reported information on crisis service utilization 2 months post-discharge. Children treated in the specialized unit had lower ABC-I scores at discharge and 2 months post-discharge (F = 8.98, p = 0.003) and were significantly less likely to experience an ER visit within 2 months post-discharge (X(2) = 5.51, p = 0.019). Specialized inpatient units may be more effective for children with ASD in need of psychiatric hospitalization.
