Emotional Face Processing in Autism Spectrum Condition: A Study of Attentional Orienting and Inhibitory Control.

A core feature of Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC) is the presence of difficulties in social interactions. This can be explained by an atypical attentional processing of social information: individuals with ASC may show problems with orienting attention to socially relevant stimuli and/or inhibiting their attentional responses to irrelevant ones. To shed light on this issue, we examined attentional orienting and inhibitory control to emotional stimuli (angry, happy, and neutral faces). An antisaccade task (with both prosaccade and antisacade blocks) was applied to a final sample of 29 children with ASC and 27 children with typical development (TD). Whereas children with ASC committed more antisaccade errors when seeing angry faces than happy or neutral ones, TD children committed more antisaccade errors when encountering happy faces than neutral faces. Furthermore, latencies in the prosaccade and antisaccade blocks were longer in children with ASC and they were associated with the severity of ASC symptoms. Thus, children with ASC showed an impaired inhibitory control when angry faces were presented. This bias to negative high-arousal information is congruent with affective information-processing theories on ASC, suggesting that threatening stimuli induce an overwhelming response in ASC. Therapeutic strategies where train the shift attention to emotional stimuli (i.e. faces) may improve ASC symptomatology and their socials functioning.

The effects of reward and frustration on the task performance of autistic children and adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Autistic individuals often exhibit social communication and socio-emotional styles that may interfere with achieving social and academic outcomes. At a more specific level, they may perform differently in various social and academic tasks due to different modes of processing rewards or unpleasant experiences (e.g., frustrating events). AIM: The present experiment examines how rewards and frustration affect the task performance of autistic children and adolescents METHODS AND PROCEDURES: An affective Posner task was applied to introduce rewards and induce frustration. Forty-four autistic children and adolescents and forty-four typically developing (TD) peers participated in this study OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Results showed that presenting social and non-social rewards resulted in shorter reaction times and lower error rates in autistic participants, but not in their TD peers. While frustration increased error rates in both autistic and TD individuals, the effect was more pronounced in the autistic group. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Social and non-social rewards help the performance of autistic children and adolescents, whereas frustration (induced through unpredictable feedback) significantly interferes with their task performance. Therefore, receiving two types of rewards and providing predictable feedback may help to improve interventions designed to optimize task performance for autistic children and adolescents.

Temperamental and psychomotor predictors of ADHD symptoms in children born after a threatened preterm labour: a 6-year follow-up study.

Children born after threatened preterm labour (TPL), regardless of whether it ends in preterm birth, may represent an undescribed "ADHD cluster". The aim of this cohort study is to identify early temperament and psychomotor manifestations and risk factors of TPL children who present ADHD symptoms. One hundred and seventeen mother-child pairs were followed from TPL diagnosis until the child's 6 years of life. TPL children were divided according to the prematurity status into three groups: full-term TPL (n = 26), late-preterm TPL (n = 53), and very-preterm TPL (n = 38). A non-TPL group (n = 50) served as control. Temperament and psychomotor development at age 6 months and ADHD symptoms at age 6 years were assessed. Perinatal and psychosocial factors were also recorded. All TPL groups showed higher severity of ADHD symptoms compared with non-TPL children (difference in means + 4.19 for the full-term group, + 3.64 for the late-preterm group, and + 4.99 for the very-preterm group, all ps < 0.021). Concretely, very-preterm and late-preterm TPL children showed higher restless/impulsive behaviours, whereas full-term TPL children showed higher emotional lability behaviours. Higher surgency/extraversion and delayed fine motor skills at age 6 months predicted ADHD symptoms at 6 years in TPL children. Male sex, maternal state anxiety symptoms at TPL diagnosis, low parental education, and past maternal experience of traumatic events predicted higher ADHD symptoms in TPL children. Therefore, TPL children may have a higher risk for developing ADHD symptoms, presenting a phenotype that depends on the prematurity status. Moreover, the specific combination of early manifestations and risk factors suggests that TPL children may conform an undescribed group at-risk of ADHD symptoms.

Development of Moral Judgments in Impersonal and Personal Dilemmas in Autistic Spectrum Disorders from Childhood to Late Adolescence.

A potential underlying mechanism associated with the difficulties in social interactions in Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) concerns the abnormal development of moral reasoning. The present study examined utilitarian and deontological judgments in impersonal and personal moral dilemmas, comparing 66 individuals with ASD and 61 typically developing (TD) individuals between 6 and 18 years. Utilitarian judgments decreased with age. This decline was much more gradual for personal dilemmas in the ASD than in the TD group. ASD individuals rated utilitarian judgments as more appropriate but felt less calm, consistent with the Empathy Imbalance hypothesis. Utilitarian judgments were associated with social interaction difficulties in ASD. These findings identify possible social therapeutic targets for more efficient coping strategies in individuals with ASD.

Are infants born after an episode of suspected preterm labor at risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder? A 30-month follow-up study.

BACKGROUND: An episode of suspected preterm labor may be by itself a pathologic event that may alter the normal course of pregnancy and the offspring's neurodevelopment. Certainly, the association between preterm birth and neurodevelopmental disorders can only be partially explained by the immaturity of the nervous system, as evidenced by the increased risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in late-preterm infants without any neurologic alteration. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine whether infants born after suspected preterm labor may be at an increased risk of developing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Moreover, potential obstetrical, perinatal, and psychosocial risk factors associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in this population are examined. STUDY DESIGN: A prospective cohort study of 120 mother-infant pairs was conducted from the moment the mothers received a diagnosis of suspected preterm labor until the infants' 30 months of life. Infants were divided according to the prematurity status: full-term infants born after a suspected preterm labor (n=28; born at ≥37 weeks of gestation), late-preterm infants (n=56; born between 32 and <37 weeks of gestation), very-preterm infants (n=36; born before <32 weeks of gestation). At-term infants born without obstetric complications served as a control group (n=46). Infants' attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms were assessed at the age of 30 months. Furthermore, obstetrical, perinatal, and psychosocial risk factors were recorded. RESULTS: All groups of infants born after a suspected preterm labor showed more attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms at the age of 30 months than the control group. Concretely, very-preterm infants showed higher restless or impulsive behaviors, whereas full-term infants born after a suspected preterm labor and late-preterm infants showed higher emotional lability behaviors. Among potential risk factors, male sex and maternal experience of posttraumatic stress symptoms predicted the severity of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms in infants born after a suspected preterm labor. CONCLUSION: Infants born after a suspected preterm labor had a higher risk of developing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms, including those born at term. Infants born after a suspected preterm labor showed a distinctive phenotype and shared specific risk factors suggesting that they conform an undescribed population at risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Attentional engagement and inhibitory control according to positive and negative symptoms in schizophrenia: An emotional antisaccade task.

Despite schizophrenia (SZ) is characterized by a high psychopathological heterogeneity, the underlying psychological mechanisms that result in different clinical profiles are unclear. This study examined the cognitive processing of emotional faces (angry, happy, neutral, and sad) by means of assessing inhibitory control (antisaccade task) and attentional engagement (prosaccade task) with the eye-tracking paradigm. Firstly, two clinical SZ subgroups classified according to the predominance of positive (PSZ; n = 20) or negative symptoms (NSZ; n = 34) and a control group of 32 individuals were compared. Secondly, the association between prosaccade and antisaccade measurements and the severity of positive and negative symptoms were analyzed. The PSZ group showed slower antisaccades when angry faces were displayed, and higher positive symptoms were associated with slower prosaccade latencies to ones. Conversely, the NSZ group made overall slower prosaccades with an emotional advantage for angry faces, and higher negative symptoms were associated with faster antisaccade latencies to ones. Hence, whereas positive SZ profile is related to a lack of attentional engagement and an impaired inhibitory control to threatening information; negative SZ profile is linked to a lack of attentional engagement to faces, mainly with non-threat ones, and with an advantage to ignore distracting threatening stimuli. These findings support affective information-processing theories suggesting a hypersensitivity to threat for positive SZ profiles, and a desensitization to socio-emotional information for negative ones. Consequently, characterizing psychological mechanisms of SZ may allow improving current treatments to threat management when positive symptoms are predominant, or emotion sensitization when negative symptoms prevail.

Attentional biases towards emotional scenes in autism spectrum condition: An eye-tracking study.

BACKGROUND: Different attentional processing of emotional information may underlie social impairments in Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC). It has been hypothesized that individuals with ASC show hypersensitivity to threat, which may be related to an avoidance behaviour. However, research on the attentional processing of emotional information in autism is inconclusive. AIM: To examine the attentional processing biases of 27 children with ASC and 25 typically developed (TD) participants. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: The initial orienting of attention, the attentional engagement, and the attentional maintenance to complex emotional scenes in competition (happy, neutral, threatening, sad) were assessed in a 20-second eye-tracking based free-viewing task. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: i) children with ASC showed an initial orienting bias towards threatening stimuli; ii) TD children demonstrated an attentional engagement and maintenance bias towards threat, while children with ASC did not; and iii) in children with ASC, attentional problems and somatic complaints were associated with higher initial orienting and with higher attentional maintenance towards threat, respectively. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: These results suggest that a perceived threat induces an early overwhelming response in autism, giving rise to an avoidance behaviour. The findings endorse affective information processing theories and shed light on the mechanisms underlying social disturbances in ASC.

Emotional regulation and psychomotor development after threatening preterm labor: a prospective study.

A threatened preterm labor (TPL) represents an adverse prenatal event that may affect fetal neurodevelopment, even in absence of prematurity. Indeed, late-preterm infants, without neurological complications, also exhibit neurodevelopment impairment with psychomotor delay as well as emotional regulation disturbances, considered early manifestations of neuropsychiatric disorders. The aim of this study is to examine the impact of TPL on infant's psychomotor development and temperament. This prospective cohort study recruited mothers who suffered from a TPL and a control group of mothers without TPL and full-term gestation (n = 61). TPL infants were classified into three groups depending on delivery time: Full-Term (n = 37), Late-Preterm (n = 66), and Very-Preterm (n = 38). Neurodevelopmental assessment was performed at 6 months using the Ages & Stages Questionnaires for psychomotor development and the Infant Behaviour Questionnaire-Revised for temperament. After controlling for potential cofounders (multiple pregnancy and in vitro fertilization), Full-Term TPL infants, relative to the control group, exhibited development delay in Communication (p = 0.044) and Personal-social domains (p = 0.005) as well as temperament disturbances with higher Negative Affect (p = 0.013), lower Positive Affect (p = 0.010), and worse Emotional Regulation (p < 0.001) compared to Control. No differences were found between Full-Term and Late-Preterm TPL infants. TPL may represent a risk factor for neurodevelopmental disturbances in the offspring, affecting both psychomotor and emotional infant competences, even when infants were born at term.

Early signs of autism in infants whose mothers suffered from a threatened preterm labour: a 30-month prospective follow-up study.

Infants born after a threatened preterm labour (TPL infants) are at high risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Studying this population may provide insight on the pathophysiological underpinnings of this condition. This study aimed to (i) ascertain the presence and autistic symptom load in TPL infants aged age 30 months relative to non-TPL infants, regardless of preterm birth; (ii) explore the association between early (at 6 months) psychomotor development and temperament features with the autistic symptom load of TPL infants at age 30 months and (iii) examine the association among perinatal risk factors for ASD development with the autistic symptom load of TPL infants at age 30 months. A group of 111 mother-infant pairs recruited at TPL diagnosis and a group of 47 healthy mother-infant controls completed the follow-up. Irrespective of preterm birth, TPL infants showed higher autistic symptom load at age 30 months than non-TPL infants. TPL infants presented poorer communication and problem-solving skills, reduced smiling and laughter, and greater vocal reactivity at age 6 months, predicting higher autistic symptom load at age 30 months. Higher levels of anxiety symptoms in TPL mothers after a TPL diagnosis also predicted higher autistic symptom load for the infants at age 30 months. These results suggest that TPL infants may be an undescribed cluster, with features that differentiate them from other "at-risk" populations. These findings support the need for routine assessment of TPL infants and screening of anxiety symptoms in mothers.

Manipulating feedback on schizophrenia: Evidence from a Posner task.

Individuals with schizophrenia show difficulties in achieving vital objectives. Abnormal behavioral and emotional responses to environmental feedback may be some of the psychological mechanisms underlying this lack of goal attainment in schizophrenia. The present study aims to assess how different types of feedback may affect performance in a computerized affective Posner task (non-monetary vs. monetary rewards; contingent vs. non-contingent feedback). The sample was composed of 32 patients with schizophrenia and 35 controls. Reaction times and error rates were the behavioral measurements. The emotional experience was assessed through self-reported affective scales. The results indicated that: ii) the performance with monetary rewards was better than with non-monetary ones in all participants, especially in patients with schizophrenia when higher attentional resources are required (invalid trials). Second, all participants demonstrated faster reaction times, but higher error rates, with non-contingent feedback (frustration condition). Significantly, the schizophrenia group only equaled the controls performance in the non-contingent condition with monetary rewards. Additionally, the higher the negative symptoms were in patients, the worse performance they had under frustration. Third, discrepancies between performance and self-report affect were found in patients. Specifically, after the induction of frustration, the patients reported feeling better and having no arousal changes. Therefore, the findings suggest that, in schizophrenia: i) non-monetary rewards are relatively less important; ii) monetary rewards lessen the negative effects of frustration, iii) discrepancies in self-reported affective scales suggest an unrealistic self-evaluation made under frustration. These findings shed light on the underlying mechanisms of the lack of goal attainment in schizophrenia.

Impact of maternal age on infants' emotional regulation and psychomotor development.

BACKGROUND: Maternal age has progressively increased in industrialized countries. Most studies focus on the consequences of delayed motherhood for women's physical and mental health, but little is known about potential effects on infants' neurodevelopment. This prospective study examines the association between maternal age and offspring neurodevelopment in terms of both psychomotor development (Ages & Stages Questionnaires-3) and emotional competences (Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire). METHODS: We evaluated a cohort of healthy pregnant women aged 20-41 years and their offspring, assessed at 38 weeks gestation (n = 131) and 24 months after birth (n = 101). Potential age-related variables were considered (paternal age, education level, parity, social support, maternal cortisol levels, and maternal anxiety and depressive symptoms). Bayesian ordinal regression models were performed for each neurodevelopmental outcome. RESULTS: Maternal age was negatively associated with poor child development in terms of personal-social skills [odds ratio (OR) -0.13, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.77-0.99] and with difficult temperament in terms of worse emotional regulation (OR -0.13, 95% CI 0.78-0.96) and lower positive affect (OR 0.16, 95% CI 0.75-0.95). As for age-related variables, whereas maternal anxiety symptoms and cortisol levels were also correlated with poor child development and difficult temperament, maternal social support and parental educational level were associated with better psychomotor and emotional competences. CONCLUSION: Increasing maternal age may be associated with child temperament difficulties and psychomotor delay in terms of social interaction skills. Early detection of neurodevelopment difficulties in these babies would allow preventive psychosocial interventions to avoid future neuropsychiatric disorders.

Jumping to conclusions in autism: integration of contextual information and confidence in decision-making processes.

Individuals with Autism spectrum condition (ASC) present cognitive biases and a difficulty to integrate emotional responses in decision-making, which is necessary for adequate social functioning. Thus, understanding the underlying mechanisms of the altered decision-making in individuals with ASC may eventually have a positive impact on their social functioning. The Picture decision task was employed to observe the effect of new information (fragments of an incomplete picture), interpretative context (verbal cues), and the level of confidence on decision-making processes. Our study administered the task to 49 children with ASC and 37 children with Typical Development (TD). Children with TD showed a higher probability of success when an interpretative context was given. Conversely, children with ASC had an equal probability of success regardless of whether an interpretative context was provided or not. In addition, unlike children with TD, the level of confidence did not allow predicting the probability of successful decisions in children with ASC. Finally, children with ASC had more probability of jumping to conclusions, a decision made quickly with only one fragment of the picture while being completely sure of it. These results are discussed in light of current cognitive and emotional theories on ASC.

Trajectories of stress biomarkers and anxious-depressive symptoms from pregnancy to postpartum period in women with a trauma history.

Background: Cross-sectional studies have found that a trauma history can be associated with anxious-depressive symptomatology and physiological stress dysregulation in pregnant women. Methods: This prospective study examines the trajectories of both anxiety and depressive symptoms and salivary cortisol and α-amylase biomarkers from women with (n = 42) and without (n = 59) a trauma history at (i) 38th week of gestation (T1), (ii) 48 hours after birth (T2), and (iii) three months after birth (T3). Results: The quantile regression model showed that trauma history was associated with higher cortisol levels at T1 and this difference was sustained along T2 and T3. Conversely, there were no significant differences in α-amylase levels between groups across the three time points and both groups showed an increase in α-amylase levels from T2 to T3. The ordinal mixed model showed that trauma history was associated with higher anxiety symptoms at T1 and this remained constant from T1 to T2 but was reversed from T2 to T3. In contrast, both groups showed similar depressive symptoms across the three time points. Conclusions: Whereas physiological stress dysregulation (in terms of higher cortisol levels) was maintained from pregnancy to postpartum period, pregnancy and childbirth were the most vulnerable stages for developing anxious symptoms in mothers with trauma history.

Antecedentes: Los estudios transversales han encontrado que una historia de trauma puede estar asociada con sintomatología ansioso-depresiva y una desregulación del estrés fisiológico en mujeres embarazadas.Métodos: Este estudio prospectivo examina las trayectorias de los síntomas de ansiedad y depresión y los biomarcadores de estrés en saliva (cortisol y α-amilasa) de mujeres con (n = 42) y sin (n = 59) una historia de trauma a las (i) 38 semanas de gestación (T1), (ii) 48 horas después del nacimiento (T2), y (iii) tres meses después del nacimiento (T3).Resultados: El modelo de regresión por cuantiles mostró que la historia de trauma se asoció con niveles más altos de cortisol en T1 y esta diferencia se mantuvo a lo largo de T2 y T3. A la inversa, no hubo diferencias significativas en los niveles de α-amilasa entre los grupos en los tres tiempos y ambos grupos mostraron un aumento en los niveles de α-amilasa de T2 a T3. El modelo mixto ordinal mostró que la historia de trauma se asoció con más síntomas de ansiedad en T1 y esta diferencia se mantuvo constante de T1 a T2, pero se invirtió de T2 a T3. En contraste, ambos grupos mostraron síntomas depresivos similares en los tres tiempos.Conclusiones: Mientras que la desregulación del estrés fisiológico (en términos de niveles más altos de cortisol) se mantuvo desde el embarazo hasta el posparto, el embarazo y el parto fueron las etapas más vulnerables para el desarrollo de síntomas ansiosos en madres con historia de trauma.