1. Benson PR. {{Erratum to: Network Characteristics, Perceived Social Support, and Psychological Adjustment in Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {J Autism Dev Disord};2012 (Oct 26)
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2. Bons D, van den Broek E, Scheepers F, Herpers P, Rommelse N, Buitelaaar JK. {{Motor, Emotional, and Cognitive Empathy in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Conduct Disorder}}. {J Abnorm Child Psychol};2012 (Oct 25)
It is unclear which aspects of empathy are shared and which are uniquely affected in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and conduct disorder (CD) as are the neurobiological correlates of these empathy impairments. The aim of this systematic review is to describe the overlap and specificity of motor, emotional, and cognitive aspects of empathy in children and adolescents with ASD or CD. Motor and cognitive empathy impairments are found in both ASD and CD, yet the specificity seems to differ. In ASD facial mimicry and emotion recognition may be impaired for all basic emotions, whereas in CD this is only the case for negative emotions. Emotional empathy and the role of attention to the eyes therein need further investigation. We hypothesize that impaired motor and cognitive empathy in both disorders are a consequence of lack of attention to the eyes. However, we hypothesize major differences in emotional empathy deficits between ASD and CD, probably due to emotional autonomic and amygdala hyper-responsivity in ASD versus hypo-responsivity in CD, both resulting in lack of attention to the eyes.
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3. Hedrick A, Lee Y, Wallace GL, Greenstein D, Clasen L, Giedd JN, Raznahan A. {{Autism Risk Gene MET Variation and Cortical Thickness in Typically Developing Children and Adolescents}}. {Autism Res};2012 (Oct 24)
MET receptor tyrosine kinase (MET) has been proposed as a candidate risk gene for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) based on associations between MET polymorphisms and ASD diagnosis, as well as evidence from animal studies that MET protein may regulate early development of cortical regions implicated in the neurobiology of ASD. The relevance of differences in MET signaling for human cortical development remains unexamined, however. We sought to address this issue by relating genotype at a functional single nucleotide polymorphism within the MET promoter (rs1858830, G–>C) to in vivo measures of cortical thickness (CT) development derived from 222 healthy children and adolescents with 514 longitudinally acquired structural magnetic resonance imaging brain scans between ages 9 and 22 years. We identified a statistically significant, developmentally fixed, and stepwise CT reduction with increasing C allele dose in superior and middle temporal gyri, ventral precentral and postcentral gyri, and anterior cingulate bilaterally, and in the right frontopolar cortex. We were also able to demonstrate that mean CT within these cortical regions showed a statistically significant reduction with increasing scores on a continuous measure of autistic traits (the Social Responsiveness Scale). The cortical regions highlighted by our analyses are not only established areas of MET expression during prenatal life but are also key components of the « social brain » that have frequently shown structural and functional abnormalities in autism. Our results suggest that genetic differences in the MET gene may influence the development of cortical systems implicated in the neurobiology of ASD. Autism Res 2012, **: **-**. (c) 2012 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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4. Kaga M. {{Exploring autism research collaboration between Japan and United States Joint Academic Conference on Autism Spectrum Disorders, December, 2011}}. {Brain Dev};2012 (Oct 26)
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5. Kalb LG, Freedman B, Foster C, Menon D, Landa R, Kishfy L, Law P. {{Determinants of Appointment Absenteeism at an Outpatient Pediatric Autism Clinic}}. {J Dev Behav Pediatr};2012 (Oct 19)
ABSTRACT:: Objective: Two widely discussed yet highly understudied factors that obstruct timely diagnosis and intervention among children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are missed scheduled appointments and wait time for outpatient services. Research surrounding outpatient appointment no-show and cancellation rates as well as predictors of such would shed light on the barriers to community-based clinical care. Methods: In this study, data from 8049 children and adolescents (mean = 6.97 years, SD = 4.81) with scheduled appointments at a multidisciplinary pediatric outpatient autism center were examined. A total of 43,504 appointments, scheduled between June 2003 and April 2012, were analyzed. Random and fixed effects multinomial logistic regression models were employed to explore the child-, clinician-, and appointment-related determinants of no-show and cancellation for initial and follow-up appointments. Results: A no-show rate of 9% and 15%, and a cancellation rate of 11% and 10% was observed for initial (n = 8049) and follow-up (n = 35,455) appointments, respectively. Different predictors were found for both no-show and cancellation at the initial and follow-up appointments. In the multivariate analyses, the most consistent and robust predictors of no-show were African-American child race, medical assistance, provider type and appointment type, and evening appointments. For cancellation, these included increased wait time and provider type. Importantly, cancellation and no-show at the initial evaluation increased the risk for these same outcomes at follow-up. Conclusion: As ASD prevalence figures continue to increase in the United States, findings surrounding wait time, appointment absenteeism, and clinical models of care are important to improving public health.
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6. Krieger AE, Saias T, Adrien JL. {{Promouvoir le partenariat parents-professionnels dans la prise en charge des enfants atteints d’autisme}}. {Encephale};2012 (Aug 23)
OBJECTIVE: The present study aims to evaluate the impact of the Family-Professional Partnership Model on parents’ perception of being enabled and empowered in the treatment of their autistic children. In the context of treatment for children with autism, the Family-Professional Partnership Model strives to create an egalitarian relationship between parents and mental health professionals and it encourages parents to actively participate in their child’s treatment. To evaluate the effectiveness of the Family-Professional Partnership Model at enabling and empowering parents of autistic children at the IME, parents of autistic children (n=18) completed the EPS and the PES. METHOD: For the purposes of this study, the EPS and the PES were translated into French. Eighteen parent couples of autistic children (ages 4-13years) receiving treatment at the IME for 1 to 2years agreed to participate. Participants’ responses to the EPS were correlated with their responses to the PES. RESULTS: Parent scores on the EPS significantly correlated with their scores on the PES. Father scores on the two measurements correlated significantly, whereas the correlation between mother scores on these measurements remained insignificant. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study are limited by the small sample size (n=18) but they suggest that the Family-Professional Partnership Model had a positive impact on parent enablement and empowerment in taking care of their autistic children. Future studies should evaluate enablement and empowerment in a larger sample of subjects. They should also evaluate specific factors in the Family-Professional Partnership that lead to parent empowerment.
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7. Kuhaneck HM, Chisholm EC. {{Improving dental visits for individuals with autism spectrum disorders through an understanding of sensory processing}}. {Spec Care Dentist};2012 (Nov);32(6):229-233.
The increasing prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) suggests that dental practices will be seeing patients with this diagnosis more frequently. Although patients with ASD have similar dental needs to other patients, the symptoms of the disorder may influence the ability of dental practitioners to provide necessary care. Dental professionals may be unaware of the difficulties with sensory processing common to patients with ASD. However, awareness of sensory processing issues and knowledge of strategies to improve the sensory experience for individuals with ASD may improve dental visits for these patients and allow for enhanced dental care provision.
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8. Papadopoulos N, Rinehart N, Bradshaw JL, McGinley JL. {{Brief Report: Children with ADHD Without Co-morbid Autism do not have Impaired Motor Proficiency on the Movement Assessment Battery for Children}}. {J Autism Dev Disord};2012 (Oct 26)
Motor proficiency was investigated in a sample of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder-Combined type (ADHD-CT) without autism. Accounting for the influence of co-morbid autistic symptoms in ADHD motor studies is vital given that motor impairment has been linked to social-communication symptoms in children who have co-morbid ADHD and autistic-like symptoms. Two groups of children aged between 7-14 years were recruited; children with ADHD-CT (n = 16; mean age 10 years, 7 months [SD = 1 year, 10 months]) and a typically developing (n = 16; mean age 10 years, 6 months [SD = 2 years, 6 months]) group. Motor proficiency was measured using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2nd Edition, ADHD symptoms were measured using the Conner’s Parent Rating Scale. Children with ADHD-CT who had been screened for co-morbid autism did not display motor difficulties on the MABC-2. Higher levels of inattention, but not hyperactivity or impulsivity were associated with poorer motor performance. These findings provide indirect evidence that the motor problems that children with ADHD experience may be related to co-occurring social responsiveness impairments.
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9. South M, Newton T, Chamberlain PD. {{Delayed Reversal Learning and Association With Repetitive Behavior in Autism Spectrum Disorders}}. {Autism Res};2012 (Oct 24)
An important aspect of successful emotion regulation is the ability to adjust emotional responses to changing environmental cues. Difficulties with such adaptation may underlie both marked symptoms of behavioral inflexibility and frequent severe anxiety in the autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Thirty children and adolescents diagnosed with ASD and 29 age- and intelligence quotient-matched controls completed a reversal learning paradigm following partial reinforcement Pavlovian fear conditioning, using a surprising air puff as the unconditioned stimulus. After initial reversal of cue contingencies, where a previously safe cue now predicted the air puff threat, the control group but not the ASD group responded more strongly to the new threat cue. The ASD group showed evidence for reversal learning only during later trials. Reversal learning in the ASD group was significantly negatively correlated with everyday symptoms of behavioral inflexibility but not with everyday anxiety. Understanding shared associations between inflexibility, anxiety, and autism, with regard both to clinical symptoms and neurobiological mechanisms, can provide important markers for better characterizing the substantial heterogeneity across the autism spectrum. Autism Res 2012, : -. (c) 2012 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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10. Tu WJ, Yin CH, Guo YQ, Li SO, Chen H, Zhang Y, Feng YL, Long BH. {{Serum homocysteine concentrations in Chinese children with autism}}. {Clin Chem Lab Med};2012 (Aug 24)
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11. van Hulst K, Lindeboom R, van der Burg J, Jongerius P. {{Accurate assessment of drooling severity with the 5-minute drooling quotient in children with developmental disabilities}}. {Dev Med Child Neurol};2012 (Oct 25)
Aim The aims of this study were to examine whether objective measurements of the 10-minute drooling quotient (DQ10) and the 5-minute drooling quotient (DQ5) are interchangeable; to assess agreement between the measurements and their accuracy in classifying drooling severity; and to develop a time-efficient clinical assessment. Method The study cohort included 162 children (61 females, 101 males; mean age 11y 6mo, SD 4y 5mo, range 3y 9mo-22y 1mo) suffering from moderate to profuse drooling. One hundred and twenty-four had cerebral palsy and 38 had other developmental disabilities. Seventy-four of the participants were ambulant and 88 non-ambulant. The original DQ10 was recalculated into a 5-minute score (DQ5). Assessments were undertaken while the participants were in a rest situation (DQ(R) ) and while they were active (DQ(A) ). Agreement in scores was quantified using intraclass correlations and Bland-Altman plots. To classify drooling, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to compare accuracy of the DQ10 and DQ5 at rest and during activity. Results Agreement between DQ10A, and DQ5(A) , and between DQ10(R) and DQ5(R) was high (intraclass correlation coefficient >0.90). Moderate agreement existed between DQ(A) and DQ(R) . DQ(A) scores were more accurate in classifying children’s drooling behaviour. For DQ5(A) , a cut-off point of 18 or more (drooling episodes/observation time) might indicate ‘constant drooling’. Interpretation The DQ10 and DQ5 can be used interchangeably. DQ(A) is most discriminative for drooling severity. For evaluating treatment efficiency the cut-off point can be used. For clinical and research purposes, the DQ5 is time efficient and cost saving while validity, and intrarater and interrater reliability are preserved.
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12. Zablotsky B, Bradshaw CP, Stuart EA. {{The Association Between Mental Health, Stress, and Coping Supports in Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders}}. {J Autism Dev Disord};2012 (Oct 26)
Raising a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be a stressful experience for parents. When left unmanaged, high stress levels can lead to the development of depressive symptomatology, highlighting the importance of coping supports. The current paper examined the stress level and psychological wellbeing of mothers with a child with ASD in a national survey. After adjusting for child, mother and family level characteristics, it was determined that mothers of children with ASDs were at greater risk for poor mental health and high stress levels compared to mothers of children without ASDs. The presence of maternal coping strategies, in the form of emotional and neighborhood social supports, as well as strong coping skills, reduced these risks between models.
