Characterising Insistence on Sameness and Circumscribed Interests: A Qualitative Study of Parent Perspectives.

Manifestations of insistence on sameness (IS) and circumscribed interests (CI) are complex, with individuals varying considerably, not only in the types of behaviours they express, but also in terms of a behaviour's frequency, intensity, trajectory, adaptive benefits, and impacts. However, current quantitative RRB instruments capture only certain aspects of these behaviours (e.g., mostly frequency or general "severity"). Thus, the current study utilised a semi-structured caregiver interview to provide an in-depth, qualitative characterization of different aspects of IS and CI presentation. Caregivers of 27 autistic children and adolescents displaying IS and/or CI behaviours (3-16 years; 18 males; 9 females) participated in a semi-structured interview. Responses were analysed using thematic framework analysis. Framework analysis identified nine different aspects of IS and CI presentation: (1) intensity, (2) frequency, (3) emergence of behaviour, (4) changes over time, (5) day-to-day fluctuations, (6) purpose/adaptive benefit, (7) experiences of distress, (8) challenges for the individual, their family, and their socialisation, and (9) management strategies and their effectiveness. Autistic children and adolescents were reported to vary greatly on each of these dimensions. Findings demonstrate the complexity of IS and CI presentations and highlight the need for more comprehensive quantitative assessments that independently assess the frequency, intensity, and impact of behaviours. Further, findings reported here emphasize the need for ecologically valid measures that assess the contexts in which these behaviours occur and how their presentations can change within and across days.

Exploring the neurological features of individuals with germline PTEN variants: A multicenter study.

OBJECTIVE: PTEN, a known tumor suppressor gene, is a mediator of neurodevelopment. Individuals with germline pathogenic variants in the PTEN gene, molecularly defined as PTEN hamartoma tumor syndrome (PHTS), experience a variety of neurological and neuropsychiatric challenges during childhood, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, the frequency and nature of seizures and the utilization of allied health services have not been described. METHODS: Young patients with PHTS and sibling controls were recruited across five centers in the United States and followed every 6-12 months for a mean of 2.1 years. In addition to the history obtained from caregivers, neurodevelopmental evaluations and structured dysmorphology examinations were conducted, and brain MRI findings, received therapies, and epilepsy characteristics were reported. RESULTS: One hundred and seven patients with PHTS (median age 8.7 years; range 3-21 years) and 38 controls were enrolled. ASD and epilepsy were frequent among patients with PHTS (51% and 15%, respectively), with generalized epilepsy strongly associated with ASD. Patients with epilepsy often required two antiseizure medications. Neuroimaging revealed prominent perivascular spaces and decreased peritrigonal myelination in individuals with PHTS-ASD. Allied therapy use was frequent and involved physical, occupational, speech, and social skills therapies, with 89% of all patients with PHTS, regardless of ASD diagnosis, utilizing at least one service. INTERPRETATION: This prospective, longitudinal study highlights the wide neurological spectrum seen in young individuals with PHTS. ASD is common in PHTS, comorbid with epilepsy, and allied health services are used universally. Our findings inform care discussions with families about neurological outcomes in PHTS.

A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of Motivation-Based Social Skills Group Treatment with Parent Training.

Despite the popularity of social skills groups, there remains a need for empirical investigation of treatment effects, especially when targeting pivotal aspects of social functioning such as initiations to peers. The goal of the present study was to conduct a randomized controlled trial of a 12-week social intervention (SUCCESS), which combined an inclusive social group with a parent education program. Twenty-five 4- to 6-year-olds with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) were randomized to SUCCESS (N = 11) or to treatment as usual (N = 14). Combining a peer group model with a parent training program, the SUCCESS intervention used naturalistic behavioral techniques (e.g., environmental arrangement, natural reinforcement) to increase social initiations to peers. After 12 weeks, children participating in the SUCCESS program made more frequent initiations to peers than children in the treatment-as-usual group, including more prompted and unprompted initiations to request. Additional gains in clinician-rated social functioning were observed in children randomized to SUCCESS, while differential treatment effects were not detected in parent-rated measures. However, lower baseline social motivation was associated with greater parent-reported initiation improvement. This study provides preliminary support for the efficacy of a naturalistic, behavioral social skills intervention to improve peer initiations for children with ASD. The findings suggest that using a motivation-based social skills group was effective in increasing both prompted and spontaneous initiations to peers, and highlights the need for further research into the role of baseline social motivation in predicting social skills treatment response.

A Twin Study of Altered White Matter Heritability in Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorder.

OBJECTIVE: White matter alterations are frequently reported in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), yet the etiology is currently unknown. The objective of this investigation was to examine, for the first time, the impact of genetic and environmental factors on white matter microstructure in twins with ASD compared to control twins without ASD. METHOD: Diffusion-weighted MRIs were obtained from same-sex twin pairs (6-15 years of age) in which at least 1 twin was diagnosed with ASD or neither twin exhibited a history of neurological or psychiatric disorders. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) were examined across different white matter tracts in the brain, and statistical and twin modeling were completed to assess the proportion of variation associated with additive genetic (A) and common/shared (C) or unique (E) environmental factors. We also developed a novel Twin-Pair Difference Score analysis method that produces quantitative estimates of the genetic and environmental contributions to shared covariance between different brain and behavioral traits. RESULTS: Good-quality data were available from 84 twin pairs, 50 ASD pairs (32 concordant for ASD [16 monozygotic; 16 dizygotic], 16 discordant for ASD [3 monozygotic; 13 dizygotic], and 2 pairs in which 1 twin had ASD and the other exhibited some subthreshold symptoms [1 monozygotic; 1 dizygotic]) and 34 control pairs (20 monozygotic; 14 dizygotic). Average FA and MD across the brain, respectively, were primarily genetically mediated in both control twins (A = 0.80, 95% CI [0.57, 1.02]; A = 0.80 [0.55, 1.04]) and twins concordant for having ASD (A = 0.71 [0.33, 1.09]; A = 0.84 [0.32,1.36]). However, there were also significant tract-specific differences between groups. For instance, genetic effects on commissural fibers were primarily associated with differences in general cognitive abilities and perhaps some diagnostic differences for ASD because Twin-Pair Difference-Score analysis indicated that genetic factors may have contributed to ∼40% to 50% of the covariation between IQ scores and FA of the corpus callosum. Conversely, the increased impact of environmental factors on some projection and association fibers were primarily associated with differences in symptom severity in twins with ASD; for example, our analyses suggested that unique environmental factors may have contributed to ∼10% to 20% of the covariation between autism-related symptom severity and FA of the cerebellar peduncles and external capsule. CONCLUSION: White matter alterations in youth with ASD are associated with both genetic contributions and potentially increased vulnerability or responsivity to environmental influences. DIVERSITY & INCLUSION STATEMENT: We worked to ensure sex and gender balance in the recruitment of human participants. We worked to ensure race, ethnic, and/or other types of diversity in the recruitment of human participants. We worked to ensure that the study questionnaires were prepared in an inclusive way. One or more of the authors of this paper self-identifies as a member of one or more historically underrepresented racial and/or ethnic groups in science. One or more of the authors of this paper self-identifies as a member of one or more historically underrepresented sexual and/or gender groups in science. One or more of the authors of this paper self-identifies as living with a disability. The author list of this paper includes contributors from the location and/or community where the research was conducted and they participated in the data collection, design, analysis, and/or interpretation of the work.

Precision microbial intervention improves social behavior but not autism severity: A pilot double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by the presence of restricted/repetitive behaviors and social communication deficits. Because effective treatments for ASD remain elusive, novel therapeutic strategies are necessary. Preclinical studies show that L. reuteri selectively reversed social deficits in several models for ASD. Here, in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial, we tested the effect of L. reuteri (a product containing a combination of strains ATCC-PTA-6475 and DSM-17938) in children with ASD. The treatment does not alter overall autism severity, restricted/repetitive behaviors, the microbiome composition, or the immune profile. However, L. reuteri combination yields significant improvements in social functioning that generalized across different measures. Interestingly, ATCC-PTA-6475, but not the parental strain of DSM-17938, reverses the social deficits in a preclinical mouse model for ASD. Collectively, our findings show that L. reuteri enhances social behavior in children with ASD, thereby warranting larger trials in which strain-specific effects should also be investigated.

Categorical versus dimensional structure of autism spectrum disorder: A multi-method investigation.

Background: A key question for any psychopathological diagnosis is whether the condition is continuous or discontinuous with typical variation. The primary objective of this study was to use a multi-method approach to examine the broad latent categorical versus dimensional structure of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Method: Data were aggregated across seven independent samples of participants with ASD, other neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD), and non-ASD/NDD controls (aggregate Ns = 512-16,755; ages 1.5-22). Scores from four distinct phenotype measures formed composite "indicators" of the latent ASD construct. The primary indicator set included eye gaze metrics from seven distinct social stimulus paradigms. Logistic regressions were used to combine gaze metrics within/across paradigms, and derived predicted probabilities served as indicator values. Secondary indicator sets were constructed from clinical observation and parent-report measures of ASD symptoms. Indicator sets were submitted to taxometric- and latent class analyses. Results: Across all indicator sets and analytic methods, there was strong support for categorical structure corresponding closely to ASD diagnosis. Consistent with notions of substantial phenotypic heterogeneity, the ASD category had a wide range of symptom severity. Despite the examination of a large sample with a wide range of IQs in both genders, males and children with lower IQ were over-represented in the ASD category, similar to observations in diagnosed cases. Conclusions: Our findings provide strong support for categorical structure corresponding closely to ASD diagnosis. The present results bolster the use of well-diagnosed and representative ASD groups within etiologic and clinical research, motivating the ongoing search for major drivers of the ASD phenotype. Despite the categorical structure of ASD, quantitative symptom measurements appear more useful for examining relationships with other factors.

Characterizing subdomains of insistence on sameness in autistic youth.

Insistence on sameness (IS) encompasses a range of behavioral patterns, including resistance to change, routines, and ritualized behaviors, that can be present across social and non-social contexts. Given the breadth of behaviors encompassed by IS, it is important to determine whether this domain is best conceptualized and measured as uni- or a multi-dimensional construct. Therefore, the current study aimed to characterize the structure of IS and explore potentially distinct of patterns of associations between identified IS factors and relevant correlates, including age, sex, IQ, anxiety, social abilities, emotional and behavioral dysregulation, and sensory hypersensitivity. Exploratory graph analysis was conducted using the dimensional assessment of restricted and repetitive behaviors to examine the structure of IS in a sample 1892 autistic youth (Mage = 10.82, SDage = 4.14; range: 3-18 years; 420 females) recruited from the Simons Foundation Powering Autism Research for Knowledge cohort. Three distinct IS subdomains labeled as IS-Ritualistic/sameness, IS-Routines, and IS-Others (referring to IS behaviors during interactions with others) were identified. Generalized additive models demonstrated that each of the IS subdomains showed a unique pattern of association with key variables. More specifically, while sensory hypersensitivity was significantly associated with IS-Ritualistic/sameness and IS-Routines, it was not associated with IS-Others. Further, while emotional dysregulation was a unique predictor of IS-Ritualistic/sameness (but not IS-Routines or IS-Others), social interaction abilities were a unique predictor of IS-Routines (but not IS-Ritualistic/sameness or IS-Others). Current findings provide preliminary evidence that the IS may encompass several distinct subdomains.

Electronic health records identify timely trends in childhood mental health conditions.

BACKGROUND: Electronic health records (EHRs) data provide an opportunity to collect patient information rapidly, efficiently and at scale. National collaborative research networks, such as PEDSnet, aggregate EHRs data across institutions, enabling rapid identification of pediatric disease cohorts and generating new knowledge for medical conditions. To date, aggregation of EHR data has had limited applications in advancing our understanding of mental health (MH) conditions, in part due to the limited research in clinical informatics, necessary for the translation of EHR data to child mental health research. METHODS: In this cohort study, a comprehensive EHR-based typology was developed by an interdisciplinary team, with expertise in informatics and child and adolescent psychiatry, to query aggregated, standardized EHR data for the full spectrum of MH conditions (disorders/symptoms and exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), across 13 years (2010-2023), from 9 PEDSnet centers. Patients with and without MH disorders/symptoms (without ACEs), were compared by age, gender, race/ethnicity, insurance, and chronic physical conditions. Patients with ACEs alone were compared with those that also had MH disorders/symptoms. Prevalence estimates for patients with 1+ disorder/symptoms and for specific disorders/symptoms and exposure to ACEs were calculated, as well as risk for developing MH disorder/symptoms. RESULTS: The EHR study data set included 7,852,081 patients < 21 years of age, of which 52.1% were male. Of this group, 1,552,726 (19.8%), without exposure to ACEs, had a lifetime MH disorders/symptoms, 56.5% being male. Annual prevalence estimates of MH disorders/symptoms (without exposure to ACEs) rose from 10.6% to 2010 to 15.1% in 2023, a 44% relative increase, peaking to 15.4% in 2019, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. MH categories with the largest increases between 2010 and 2023 were exposure to ACEs (1.7, 95% CI 1.6-1.8), anxiety disorders (2.8, 95% CI 2.8-2.9), eating/feeding disorders (2.1, 95% CI 2.1-2.2), gender dysphoria/sexual dysfunction (43.6, 95% CI 35.8-53.0), and intentional self-harm/suicidality (3.3, 95% CI 3.2-3.5). White youths had the highest rates in most categories, except for disruptive behavior disorders, elimination disorders, psychotic disorders, and standalone symptoms which Black youths had higher rates. Median age of detection was 8.1 years (IQR 3.5-13.5) with all standalone symptoms recorded earlier than the corresponding MH disorder categories. CONCLUSIONS: These results support EHRs' capability in capturing the full spectrum of MH disorders/symptoms and exposure to ACEs, identifying the proportion of patients and groups at risk, and detecting trends throughout a 13-year period that included the Covid-19 pandemic. Standardized EHR data, which capture MH conditions is critical for health systems to examine past and current trends for future surveillance. Our publicly available EHR-mental health typology codes can be used in other studies to further advance research in this area.

Development of webcam-collected and artificial-intelligence-derived social and cognitive performance measures for neurodevelopmental genetic syndromes.

This study focused on the development and initial psychometric evaluation of a set of online, webcam-collected, and artificial intelligence-derived patient performance measures for neurodevelopmental genetic syndromes (NDGS). Initial testing and qualitative input was used to develop four stimulus paradigms capturing social and cognitive processes, including social attention, receptive vocabulary, processing speed, and single-word reading. The paradigms were administered to a sample of 375 participants, including 163 with NDGS, 56 with idiopathic neurodevelopmental disability (NDD), and 156 neurotypical controls. Twelve measures were created from the four stimulus paradigms. Valid completion rates varied from 87 to 100% across measures, with lower but adequate completion rates in participants with intellectual disability. Adequate to excellent internal consistency reliability (α = 0.67 to 0.95) was observed across measures. Test-retest reproducibility at 1-month follow-up and stability at 4-month follow-up was fair to good (r = 0.40-0.73) for 8 of the 12 measures. All gaze-based measures showed evidence of convergent and discriminant validity with parent-report measures of other cognitive and behavioral constructs. Comparisons across NDGS groups revealed distinct patterns of social and cognitive functioning, including people with PTEN mutations showing a less impaired overall pattern and people with SYNGAP1 mutations showing more attentional, processing speed, and social processing difficulties relative to people with NFIX mutations. Webcam-collected performance measures appear to be a reliable and potentially useful method for objective characterization and monitoring of social and cognitive processes in NDGS and idiopathic NDD. Additional validation work, including more detailed convergent and discriminant validity analyses and examination of sensitivity to change, is needed to replicate and extend these observations.

Anxiety, concerns and COVID-19: Cross-country perspectives from families and individuals with neurodevelopmental conditions.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on the mental health and well-being of children with neurodevelopmental conditions (NDCs) and of their families worldwide. However, there is insufficient evidence to understand how different factors (e.g., individual, family, country, children) have impacted on anxiety levels of families and their children with NDCs developed over time. Methods: We used data from a global survey assessing the experience of 8043 families and their children with NDCs (mean of age (m) = 13.18 years, 37% female) and their typically developing siblings (m = 12.9 years, 45% female) in combination with data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the University of Oxford, and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) World Factbook, to create a multilevel data set. Using stepwise multilevel modelling, we generated child-, family- and country-related factors that may have contributed to the anxiety levels of children with NDCs, their siblings if they had any, and their parents. All data were reported by parents. Results: Our results suggest that parental anxiety was best explained by family-related factors such as concerns about COVID-19 and illness. Children's anxiety was best explained by child-related factors such as children's concerns about loss of routine, family conflict, and safety in general, as well as concerns about COVID-19. In addition, anxiety levels were linked to the presence of pre-existing anxiety conditions for both children with NDCs and their parents. Conclusions: The present study shows that across the globe there was a raise in anxiety levels for both parents and their children with NDCs because of COVID-19 and that country-level factors had little or no impact on explaining differences in this increase, once family and child factors were considered. Our findings also highlight that certain groups of children with NDCs were at higher risk for anxiety than others and had specific concerns. Together, these results show that anxiety of families and their children with NDCs during the COVID-19 pandemic were predicted by very specific concerns and worries which inform the development of future toolkits and policy. Future studies should investigate how country factors can play a protective role during future crises.

Arriving at the empirically based conceptualization of restricted and repetitive behaviors: A systematic review and meta-analytic examination of factor analyses.

An empirically based understanding of the factor structure of the restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRB) domain is a prerequisite for interpreting studies attempting to understand the correlates and mechanisms underpinning RRB and for measurement development. Therefore, this study aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of RRB factor analytic studies. Sets of meta-analyses were performed to examine (a) the factor structure of individual RRB instruments, (b) associations between RRB subdomains across instruments, and (c) the association between RRB factors and other variables. Searches for peer-reviewed articles evaluating the factor structure of the RRB domain were performed in PsycINFO (Ovid), Medline (Ovid), and Embase (Ovid). No age, measurement, or informant-type limits were imposed. Quality and risk of bias for individual studies were assessed using relevant COSMIN sections. Among the 53 studies retained for review, 41 examined RRB factor structures among individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and 12 among non-ASD samples. Meta-analysis of factor correlations provided evidence that the RRB domain encompasses the following eight specific factors: repetitive motor behaviors, insistence on sameness, restricted interests, unusual interests, sensory sensitivity, and repetitive, stereotyped language. Although interrelated, RRB factors were distinct, showing a unique pattern of associations with demographic, cognitive, and clinical correlates. Meta-analyses of the associations between RRB factors and specific correlates, specifically adaptive functioning and communication impairments, should be considered preliminary due to the limited number of studies. Despite limitations, this review provides important insights into the factor structure of the RRB domain and highlights critical conceptual, measurement, and methodological limitations of the current research that will need to be addressed in order to improve our understanding of RRB.

Reliability of the Commonly Used and Newly-Developed Autism Measures.

PURPOSE: The aim of the present study was to compare scale and conditional reliability derived from item response theory analyses among the most commonly used, as well as several newly developed, observation, interview, and parent-report autism instruments. METHODS: When available, data sets were combined to facilitate large sample evaluation. Scale reliability (internal consistency, average corrected item-total correlations, and model reliability) and conditional reliability estimates were computed for total scores and for measure subscales. RESULTS: Generally good to excellent scale reliability was observed for total scores for all measures, scale reliability was weaker for RRB subscales of the ADOS and ADI-R, reflecting the relatively small number of items for these measures. For diagnostic measures, conditional reliability tended to be very good (> 0.80) in the regions of the latent trait where ASD and non-ASD developmental disability cases would be differentiated. For parent-report scales, conditional reliability of total scores tended to be excellent (> 0.90) across very wide ranges of autism symptom levels, with a few notable exceptions. CONCLUSIONS: These findings support the use of all of the clinical observation, interview, and parent-report autism symptom measures examined, but also suggest specific limitations that warrant consideration when choosing measures for specific clinical or research applications.

Profiles of circumscribed interests in autistic youth.

Circumscribed interests (CI) encompass a range of different interests and related behaviors that can be characterized by either a high intensity but otherwise usual topic [referred to as restricted interests (RI)] or by a focus on topics that are not salient outside of autism [referred to as unusual interests (UI)]. Previous research has suggested that there is pronounced variability across individuals in terms of the endorsement of different interests, however, this variability has not been quantified using formal subtyping approaches. Therefore, using Latent Profile Analysis in a sample of 1,892 autistic youth (Mage = 10.82, SDage = 4.14; 420 females), this study aimed to identify subgroups based on the RU and UI profiles. Three profiles of autistic individuals were identified. They were characterized as Low CI, Predominantly RI, and Predominantly UI. Importantly, profiles differed on several key demographic and clinical variables, including age, sex composition, IQ, language level, social and communication abilities, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive behaviors. Although replication across other samples is needed, the profiles identified in this study are potentially promising for future research given their distinct profiles of RI and UI and unique patterns of associations with key cognitive and clinical variables. Therefore, this study represents an important initial step towards more individualized assessment and support for diverse presentations of CI in autistic youth.

Longitudinal neurobehavioral profiles in children and young adults with PTEN hamartoma tumor syndrome and reliable methods for assessing neurobehavioral change.

BACKGROUND: Individuals with PTEN hamartoma tumor syndrome (PHTS) demonstrate a distinct neurobehavioral profile suggesting primary disruption of frontal lobe symptoms, with more severe cognitive deficits in those with associated autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that extend to other areas of neurobehavioral function as well (e.g., adaptive behavior, sensory deficits). The current study sought to characterize longitudinal neurobehavioral profiles in individuals with PHTS who completed serial assessments (2-3 evaluations) over a 2-year time period. METHODS: Comprehensive neurobehavioral evaluations were conducted on 92 participants (age range 6-21) with PHTS and/or ASD. Spaghetti plots and linear mixed effects models were used to visualize the individual patient profiles and group trends and examine the group differences in cognitive/behavioral test scores over time. Practice-adjusted reliable change indices (RCIs) and standardized regression-based change scores (SRBs) were calculated for those measures in the battery with adequate sample sizes and test-retest reliabilities for future use in assessing neurobehavioral change in children and young adults with PHTS. RESULTS: Wide individual differences were observed at baseline across all measures. Encouragingly, baseline differences between patient groups persisted at the same magnitude over a 2-year time period with no differences in longitudinal neurobehavioral profiles within any one group. Test-retest reliabilities were generally high, ranging from 0.62 to 0.97, and group mean change from baseline to 12 months was small (range - 3.8 to 3.7). A Microsoft Excel calculator was created that clinicians and researchers can use to automatically calculate RCI and SRB thresholds at both 80% and 90% confidence intervals using test scores from a given child or young adult with PHTS. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the neurobehavioral phenotypes observed in individuals with PHTS remain relatively stable over time, even in those with ASD. The RCIs and SRBs provided can be used in future research to examine patient outcomes at the individual level as well as to detect negative deviations from the expected trajectory that can be used to inform intervention strategies.

The Autism Symptom Dimensions Questionnaire: Development and psychometric evaluation of a new, open-source measure of autism symptomatology.

AIM: To describe the development and initial psychometric evaluation of a new, freely available measure, the Autism Symptom Dimensions Questionnaire (ASDQ). METHOD: After development and revision of an initial 33-item version, informants completed a revised 39-item version of the ASDQ on 1467 children and adolescents (aged 2-17 years), including 104 with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). RESULTS: The initial 33-item version of the ASDQ had good reliability and construct validity. However, only four specific symptom factors were identified, potentially due to an insufficient number of items. Factor analyses of the expanded instrument identified a general ASD factor and nine specific symptom factors with good measurement invariance across demographic groups. Scales showed good-to-excellent overall and conditional reliability. Exploratory analyses of predictive validity for ASD versus neurotypical and other developmental disability diagnoses indicated good accuracy for population and at-risk contexts. INTERPRETATION: The ASDQ is a free and psychometrically sound informant report instrument with good reliability of measurement across a continuous range of scores and preliminary evidence of predictive validity. The measure may be a useful alternative to existing autism symptom measures but further studies with comparison of clinical diagnoses using criterion-standard instruments are needed. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: The Autism Symptom Dimensions Questionnaire (ASDQ) is a new, freely available measure of autism symptoms. The ASDQ showed reliable and accurate measurement of autism symptoms. The measure had good screening efficiency for autism spectrum disorder relative to other developmental conditions.

Dimensional Assessment of Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors: Development and Preliminary Validation of a New Measure.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to provide initial validation of the Dimensional Assessment of Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors (DARB), a new parent-report measure designed to capture the full range of key restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRB) subdomains. METHOD: Parents of 1,892 children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (mean [SD] age = 10.81 [4.14] years) recruited from the SPARK (Simons Foundation Powering Autism Research for Knowledge) research match completed the DARB, several existing RRB instruments, and measures of social and communication impairments and anxiety. A subsample of 450 parents completed the DARB after 2 weeks to evaluate the test-retest stability. RESULTS: Exploratory graph analysis conducted in the exploratory subsample identified 8 dimensions that were aligned with hypothesized RRB subdomains: repetitive sensory motor behaviors, insistence on sameness, restricted interests, unusual interests, sensory sensitivity, self-injurious behaviors, obsessions and compulsive behaviors, and repetitive language. The confirmatory application of the exploratory structural equation modeling conducted in the confirmatory subsample showed that the derived factor structure had a good fit to the data. Derived factors had excellent reliability, convergent and divergent validity, and very strong test-retest stability and showed a distinct pattern of associations with key demographic, cognitive and clinical correlates. CONCLUSION: The DARB will be useful in a variety of research and clinical contexts considering the prominence and clinical impact of RRB in autism spectrum disorder. Strong preliminary evidence indicates that the new scale is comprehensive and captures a wide range of distinct RRB subdomains not simultaneously captured by any of the existing instruments.

Maladaptive behaviors in children with autism and parental hopelessness: The moderating role of parental reflective functioning.

Hopelessness in parents has implications for parents' own well-being as well as their ability to meet the needs of their children. In the present study, we examined the effect of maladaptive behaviors in children with autism on parental hopelessness, with particular attention to whether parental reflective functioning would moderate the effect of maladaptive behaviors on parental hopelessness. Our sample included 68 parents of children with autism between the ages of 3 and 18. Findings revealed a significant positive relationship between maladaptive behaviors in the children and hopelessness in the parents. Moreover, parental reflective functioning moderated the effect of child maladaptive behaviors on parental hopelessness, such that children's maladaptive behaviors were positively associated with parental hopelessness in parents with low (but not high) reflective functioning. Findings suggest parental reflective functioning may be a protective factor against parental hopelessness, and thus a possible target for interventions for hopelessness in parents whose children with autism exhibit greater maladaptive behaviors.

Sleep architecture is associated with core symptom severity in autism spectrum disorder.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: While caregiver-reported sleep disturbances are common in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (['), few studies have measured objective sleep in ASD compared to controls, and their findings are mixed. We investigated (1) differences in sleep architecture, specifically slow-wave sleep (SWS) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, between ASD and typically developing controls (TD); and (2) if any observed differences in sleep were associated with core ASD symptoms. METHODS: We used ambulatory polysomnography (PSG) in 53 participants with ASD (ages 4-18) and 66 age-matched TD in their home sleeping environment. The primary outcome measures were SWS and REM sleep. Core behavioral ASD symptoms were assessed using the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R). Spectral power bands during sleep, and additional behavioral measures, were examined in exploratory analyses. RESULTS: Compared to TD, participants with ASD exhibited a higher SWS ratio and lower REM sleep ratio. Within the ASD group, higher SWS was associated with more severe symptoms on the Restricted, Repetitive, and Stereotyped Behaviors subscale of the ADI-R. No association was observed between REM sleep ratio and any ASD symptom. CONCLUSIONS: Increased SWS and reduced REM sleep ratio differentiated ASD from TD. However, only increased SWS was associated with more severe core ASD symptoms. Increased SWS may reflect neuronal immaturity specific to ASD in this age group. These findings may inform the underlying mechanisms of clinical symptoms observed in children and adolescents with ASD.

Characterizing restricted and unusual interests in autistic youth.

A broad range of interests characterized by unusual content and/or intensity, labeled as circumscribed interests (CI), are a core diagnostic feature of autism. Recent evidence suggests that a distinction can be drawn between interests that, although characterized by unusually high intensity and/or inflexibility, are otherwise common in terms of their content (e.g., an interest in movies or animals), labeled as restricted interests (RI), and interests that are generally not salient outside of autism (e.g., an interest in traffic lights or categorization), labeled as unusual interests (UI). The current study aimed to further characterize RI and UI by exploring their association with age, sex, IQ, and social motivation, as well as to examine differences in the adaptive benefits and negative impacts of these two subdomains. Parents of 1892 autistic children and adolescents (Mage  = 10.82, SDage  = 4.14; 420 females) completed an online survey including the Dimensional Assessment of Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors and the Social Communication Questionnaire. Both RI and UI were found to be highly frequent. Sex-based differences were observed in the content, but not intensity, of CI such that females were more likely to show interests with a social component. Finally, RI and UI showed distinct patterns of association with age, sex, IQ, and social motivation, as well as metrics of adaptive benefits and negative impacts. Findings afford a more nuanced understanding of sex-based differences in CI and, crucially, provide preliminary evidence that RI and UI represent distinct constructs that should be studied independently in future research.