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Editorial - 2012-03-15T07:36:41-07:00

Parent and child perspectives on the nature of anxiety in children and young people with autism spectrum disorders: a focus group study - 2012-03-15T07:36:41-07:00

Anxiety disorders are common among children and young people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Despite growing knowledge about the prevalence, phenomenology and treatment of anxiety disorders, relatively little is understood about the nature and impact of anxiety in this group and little is known about autism-specific factors that may have a role in the increased prevalence of anxiety disorders. In this exploratory study, we report on a series of five focus groups with 17 parents of children and adolescents with ASD and anxiety. Across groups, parents gave strikingly similar descriptions of the triggers and behavioural signs associated with anxiety. Another consistent finding was that many parents reported that their children had great difficulty expressing their worries verbally and most showed their anxiety through changes in their behaviour. The impact of anxiety was reported to often be more substantial than the impact of ASD itself. The implications of the focus group findings are discussed in relation to existing literature.

Verbal ability, social stress, and anxiety in children with Autistic Disorder - 2012-03-15T07:36:41-07:00

The aims of this study were to evaluate the physiological stress and anxiety responses in children with autism following completion of a standardized, social-evaluative stressor (Trier Social Stress Test-Child version), document the relationship between verbal ability, stress, and anxiety, and determine the association between stress and anxiety in children with autism and typical development. Results demonstrated the Trier Social Stress Test-Child version to be a benign stressor for children with autism. Lower verbal ability in children with autism did not predict salivary cortisol or anxiety responses. There was a lack of association between stress andanxiety for both groups, highlighting the importance of considering these terms as separate constructs. Clinical implications and the limited utility of the Trier Social Stress Test–Child version in evaluating psychosocial stress in autism are discussed.

Sleep problems in children with autism spectrum problems: a longitudinal population-based study - 2012-03-15T07:36:41-07:00

This study examined the prevalence and chronicity of sleep problems in children who manifest problems believed to be typical of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Using data from a longitudinal total population study, symptoms of ASD, insomnia and potential explanatory factors were assessed at ages 7–9 and 11–13. Children were included in a group defined as having Autism Spectrum Problems (ASP) if they scored above a strict threshold on the Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire (ASSQ). Twenty-eight (0.8%) of 3700 children fulfilled the selected criteria for ASP at both waves, and the prevalence of chronic insomnia was more than ten times higher in these children compared to the controls. Children with ASP developed more sleep problems over time, with an incidence rate at wave 2 of 37.5% compared to 8.6% in the controls. The sleep problems were more persistent over time, with a remission rate of 8.3% compared to 52.4% in the controls. ASP was a strong predictor of sleep problems at wave 2 (OR = 12.44), and while emotional and behavioural problems explained a large proportion of this association, the effect of ASP on insomnia remained significant in the fully adjusted model (OR = 3.25). These findings call for increased awareness of sleep problems in children with ASP.

Shall we do this together? Social gaze influences action control in a comparison group, but not in individuals with high-functioning autism - 2012-03-15T07:36:41-07:00

Perceiving someone else’s gaze shift toward an object can influence how this object will be manipulated by the observer, suggesting a modulatory effect of a gaze-based social context on action control. High-functioning autism (HFA) is characterized by impairments of social interaction, which may be associated with an inability to automatically integrate socially relevant nonverbal cues when generating actions. To explore these hypotheses, we made use of a stimulus-response compatibility paradigm in which a comparison group and patients with HFA were asked to generate spatially congruent or incongruent motor responses to changes in a face, a face-like and an object stimulus. Results demonstrate that while in the comparison group being looked at by a virtual other leads to a reduction of reaction time costs associated with generating a spatially incongruent response, this effect is not present in the HFA group. We suggest that this modulatory effect of social gaze on action control might play an important role in direct social interactions by helping to coordinate one’s actions with those of someone else. Future research should focus on these implicit mechanisms of interpersonal alignment (‘online’ social cognition), which might be at the very heart of the difficulties individuals with autism experience in everyday social encounters.

Early indicators of autism spectrum disorders at 12 and 24 months of age: A prospective, longitudinal comparative study - 2012-03-15T07:36:41-07:00

Prospective questionnaire data from a longitudinal population sample on children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), developmental delay, specific language impairment, or typical development (TD), were collected at ages eight, 12 and 24 months, via the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scale Developmental Profile (CSBS) – Infant Toddler Checklist, and the Actions and Gesture section of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (CDI):Words and Gestures. The four groups were compared at four years of age to identify whether any early behaviours differentiated the groups. While children with ASD differed from TD children on most social communicative measures by 12 months of age, the only social communication characteristic which could differentiate the children with ASD from the other groups were gesture scores on the CDI at 12 months and the CSBS at 24 months. Significant markers of ASD were identifiable in this community sample at an early age, although discrimination between clinical groups was rarely evident.

Psychometric properties of the Caregiver Strain Questionnaire (CGSQ) among caregivers of children with autism - 2012-03-15T07:36:41-07:00

The purpose of this study was to test the psychometric properties of the Caregiver Strain Questionnaire (CGSQ) among caregivers of children with autism. The CGSQ was originally developed to assess burden experienced by parents of children and adolescents with serious emotional and behavioral disorders. Study data was collected from 304 primary caregivers ofchildren with autism using a cross-sectional survey design. We tested the one-, two-, and three-factor CGSQ model. Though the three-factor CGSQ model fit better than the one- and two-factor model, it was still short of an acceptable fit. Minor modifications were made to the three-factor model by correlating error terms. The modified three-factor CGSQ model with correlated error indicated reasonable fit with the data. The 21-item CGSQ had good convergent validity, as indicated by the correlation of its three subscales with constructs including mental health-related quality of life, maladaptive coping, social support, family functioning, and care recipient level of functional impairment and extent of behavioral problems, respectively. The internal consistency reliability of the instrument was also good, and there were no floor and ceiling effects. The CGSQ was found to be a reliable and valid instrument to assess burden among caregivers of children with autism.

The association of autism diagnosis with socioeconomic status - 2012-03-15T07:36:41-07:00

Background: In 2007 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported a higher prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in New Jersey, one of the wealthiest states in the United States, than in other surveillance regions.

Objective: To examine the association of socioeconomic status (SES) with ASD prevalence.

Methods: Information on eight-year-olds with ASD from four counties was abstracted from school and medical records. US Census 2000 provided population and median household income data.

Results: 586 children with ASD were identified: autism prevalence was 10.2/1000, higher in boys than girls (16 vs. 4/1000); higher in white and Asian non-Hispanics than in black non-Hispanics and Hispanics (12.5, 14.0, 9.0, and 8.5/1000, respectively); and higher (17.2/1000 (95% CI 14.0–21.1)) in tracts with median income >US$90,000 than in tracts with median income ≤US$30,000 (7.1 (95% CI 5.7–8.9)). Number of professional evaluations was higher, and age at diagnosis younger, in higher income tracts (p < .001), but both measures spanned a wide overlapping range in all SES levels. In multivariable models race/ethnicity did not predict ASD, but the prevalence ratio was 2.2 (95% CI 1.5–3.1) when comparing highest with lowest income tracts.

Conclusions: In the US state of New Jersey, ASD prevalence is higher in wealthier census tracts, perhaps due to differential access to pediatric and developmental services.

Lay Abstracts - 2012-03-15T07:36:41-07:00

Call for Papers - 2012-03-15T07:36:41-07:00