Longitudinal Stability of Intellectual Functioning in Autism Spectrum Disorder: From Age 3 Through Mid-adulthood.

Intelligence (IQ) scores are used in educational and vocational planning for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) yet little is known about the stability of IQ throughout development. We examined longitudinal age-related IQ stability in 119 individuals with ASD (3-36 years of age at first visit) and 128 typically developing controls. Intelligence measures were collected over a 20-year period. In ASD, Full Scale (FSIQ) and Verbal (VIQ) Intelligence started lower in childhood and increased at a greater rate with age relative to the control group. By early adulthood, VIQ and working memory stabilized, whereas nonverbal and perceptual scores continued to change. Our results suggest that in individuals with ASD, IQ estimates may be dynamic in childhood and young adulthood.

Generalizability and reproducibility of functional connectivity in autism.

Background: Autism is hypothesized to represent a disorder of brain connectivity, yet patterns of atypical functional connectivity show marked heterogeneity across individuals. Methods: We used a large multi-site dataset comprised of a heterogeneous population of individuals with autism and typically developing individuals to compare a number of resting-state functional connectivity features of autism. These features were also tested in a single site sample that utilized a high-temporal resolution, long-duration resting-state acquisition technique. Results: No one method of analysis provided reproducible results across research sites, combined samples, and the high-resolution dataset. Distinct categories of functional connectivity features that differed in autism such as homotopic, default network, salience network, long-range connections, and corticostriatal connectivity, did not align with differences in clinical and behavioral traits in individuals with autism. One method, lag-based functional connectivity, was not correlated to other methods in describing patterns of resting-state functional connectivity and their relationship to autism traits. Conclusion: Overall, functional connectivity features predictive of autism demonstrated limited generalizability across sites, with consistent results only for large samples. Different types of functional connectivity features do not consistently predict different symptoms of autism. Rather, specific features that predict autism symptoms are distributed across feature types.

Evaluation of Differences in Temporal Synchrony Between Brain Regions in Individuals With Autism and Typical Development.

Importance: Despite reports of widespread but heterogeneous atypicality of functional connectivity in individuals with autism, little is known regarding the temporal dynamics of functional brain connections and how they relate to autistic traits. Objective: To investigate differences in temporal synchrony between brain regions in individuals with autism and those with typical development. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study, conducted at the University of Utah, included 90 adolescent and adult male participants. A larger sample from the multisite Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange (ABIDE) was also used as a replication sample. The study includes data acquired between December 2016 and April 2018. Aggregate data included in the replication sample were released to the public in August 2012 (ABIDE I) and June 2016 (ABIDE II). Data analysis were conducted between January 2018 and April 2018. Exposures: Male individuals diagnosed as having autism (n = 52) and typically developing male individuals (n = 38). Main Outcomes and Measures: Long duration (30 minutes/individual) of multiband, multiecho functional magnetic resonance imaging was acquired to estimate functional connectivity between brain regions. Sustained connectivity, a measure of functional connectivity duration, as well as lagged temporal dynamics related to functional connectivity, were compared between groups for 361 gray matter regions of interest and a 17-network parcellation. Lagged findings were replicated in the larger ABIDE sample (n = 1402). Sustained connectivity findings were also associated with behavioral and cognitive variables. Results: In 52 males with autism (mean [SD] age, 27.73 [8.66] years) and 38 control males with typical development (mean [SD] age, 27.09 [7.49] years), increases in both sustained and functional connectivity at several lags were found in individuals with autism compared with the control group. Group differences in functional connectivity were replicated in the larger ABIDE data set at a 6-second lag. Measures of symptom severity in individuals with autism were positively associated with sustained connectivity values. In the control group, sustained connectivity was negatively associated with cognitive processing. A replication sample (n = 1402) composed of 579 individuals with autism (80 female and 499 male; mean [SD] age, 15.08 [6.89] years) and 823 in the control group (211 female and 612 male; mean [SD] age, 15.06 [6.79] years) from the ABIDE data set was also analyzed. Conclusions and Relevance: Whereas the magnitude of functional connectivity in autism is variable across brain regions, participant samples, and development, prolonged temporal synchrony of functional connections is reproducibly observed in autism, suggesting a potential mechanism for core symptoms.

Child and Parent Perceptions of Interparental Relationship Conflict Predict Preschool Children's Adjustment.

Interparental relationship conflict has consistently been linked to child adjustment problems, with children's perceptions of such conflict particularly predictive of their outcomes. Despite mounting evidence that preschool children can provide reliable and valid accounts of family functioning, little research has examined preschool children's perceptions of interparental conflict. The present study employed a multi-informant design for both reports of interparental conflict (preschool children and their mothers and fathers) and reports of child adjustment (preschool children, their mothers and fathers, and their preschool teachers). Children completed pictorial measures of interparental conflict and of self-esteem that paralleled questionnaires completed by adult respondents. For both child behavior problems and child self-esteem, preschool children's perceptions of interparental conflict predicted their adjustment. Preschool children's reports of interparental conflict were significantly associated with their self-esteem and with both parents' and teachers' reports of child behavior problems, and this association remained significant when controlling for parents' reports of interparental conflict. Further, the interaction between parents' reports and children's reports of interparental conflict added unique variance to the prediction of preschool teachers' reports of children's behavior problems.