Developmental trends of hot and cool executive function in school-aged children with and without autism spectrum disorder: Links with theory of mind.

The development of executive function (EF) in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been investigated using only "cool"-cognitive EF tasks while there is limited knowledge regarding the development of "hot"-affective EF. Although cool EF development and its links to theory of mind (ToM) have been widely examined, understanding of the influence of hot EF to ToM mechanisms is minimal. The present study introduced a longitudinal design to examine the developmental changes in cool and hot EF of children with ASD (n = 45) and matched (to age and IQ) controls (n = 37) as well as the impact of EF on ToM development over a school year. For children with ASD, although selective cool (working memory and inhibition) and hot (affective decision making) EF domains presented age-related improvements, they never reached the performance level of the control group. Early cool working memory predicted later ToM in both groups but early hot delay discounting predicted later ToM only in the ASD group. No evidence was found for the reverse pattern (early ToM predicting later EF). These findings suggest that improvements in some EF aspects are evident in school age in ASD and highlight the crucial role that both cool and hot EF play in ToM development.

Hot and cool executive function and theory of mind in children with and without specific learning disorders.

Executive function (EF) in specific learning disorders (SLD) has been investigated using mainly cool EF tasks, whilst less is known about hot EF and theory of mind (ToM) in this population. The aim of this study was to examine group differences in hot and cool EF and ToM in school-aged children with SLD relative to typically developing peers. It also attempted to investigate whether EF measures are significant predictors of ToM in SLD and typical development. Cross-sectional data were collected from 135 school-aged children with and without SLD (8-10 years old), tested on measures of cool & hot EF and ToM. Significant group differences were observed in EFs inhibition (p= .04), working memory (p= .04) and delay of gratification (p < .001), as well as ToM mental state/emotion recognition (p = .019). Inhibition and planning contributed to 22% of the explained variance of ToM mental state/emotion recognition, but not false belief overall. Results suggest that cool EF may be a crucial predictor of ToM in children with and without SLD. Finally, stepwise logistic regression analysis identified specific hot EF and ToM measures contributing to group differentiation, specifically delay of gratification (odds ratio=.995, 95% CI [.993-.998]) and mental state/emotion recognition (odds ratio= .89, 95% CI [.796-.995]). This study contributes to our understanding of cognitive deficits and socio-cognitive impairment in children with SLD, which hold promise for informing interventions aimed at addressing these cognitive challenges.

Virtual Reality Training of Social Skills in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Examination of Acceptability, Usability, User Experience, Social Skills, and Executive Functions.

Poor social skills in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are associated with reduced independence in daily life. Current interventions for improving the social skills of individuals with ASD fail to represent the complexity of real-life social settings and situations. Virtual reality (VR) may facilitate social skills training in social environments and situations similar to those in real life; however, more research is needed to elucidate aspects such as the acceptability, usability, and user experience of VR systems in ASD. Twenty-five participants with ASD attended a neuropsychological evaluation and three sessions of VR social skills training, which incorporated five social scenarios with three difficulty levels. Participants reported high acceptability, system usability, and user experience. Significant correlations were observed between performance in social scenarios, self-reports, and executive functions. Working memory and planning ability were significant predictors of the functionality level in ASD and the VR system's perceived usability, respectively. Yet, performance in social scenarios was the best predictor of usability, acceptability, and functionality level. Planning ability substantially predicted performance in social scenarios, suggesting an implication in social skills. Immersive VR social skills training in individuals with ASD appears to be an appropriate service, but an errorless approach that is adaptive to the individual's needs should be preferred.

Retrospective Accounts of Bullying Victimization at School: Associations with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms and Post-Traumatic Growth among University Students.

This retrospective study investigated the association between bullying victimization experiences at school, current post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and post-traumatic growth (PTG) among Greek university students. A sample of 400 university students aged 17 to 40 years (M age = 20.33, SD = 3.18) completed self-reported scales measuring school bullying victimization experiences, post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and post-traumatic growth. Results showed that victims of school bullying reported mild levels of PTSD and moderate feelings of post-traumatic growth. Females presented higher scores of post-traumatic growth. Duration and frequency of victimization of school bullying were found to present a significant effect on PTSD symptoms and PTG, respectively. Post-traumatic growth as a result of school-bullying victimization was related to PTSD symptom severity and this relationship was curvilinear. The findings have implications in terms of informing prospective interventions targeting the enhancement of students' sense of growth for handling peer aggression effectively.

Executive function predicts theory of mind but not social verbal communication in school-aged children with autism spectrum disorder.

BACKGROUND: The association between Executive Function (EF) and Theory of Mind (ToM) in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been mainly investigated using false belief tasks, whilst less is known about the EF effect on other ToM facets. Furthermore, the role EF plays in social communication in ASD is mainly assessed using parent-report EF ratings rather than direct assessment. AIMS: The aim of this study was to shed more light on the effect of performance-based EF measures on ToM and social communication in middle childhood in ASD relative to neurotypical controls. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Cross-sectional data were collected from 64 matched, school-aged children with and without ASD (8-12 years old), tested on measures of EF (inhibition, working memory, cognitive flexibility), ToM mental state/emotion recognition and social verbal communication. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Significant group differences were observed only in selective EF skills (inhibition &cognitive flexibility) and social verbal communication. EF working memory contributed to the explained variance of ToM but not social verbal communication in middle childhood. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: These findings suggest that EF and ToM are still associated in middle childhood and EF may be a crucial predictor of ToM across childhood in ASD. Implications are discussed regarding the social-cognitive impairment relationship in ASD.

Hot and cool executive function in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder: Cross-sectional developmental trajectories.

The development of executive function (EF) in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has only been investigated using "cool"-cognitive-EF tasks. Little is known about the development of "hot"-affective-EF and whether it follows a similar developmental pathway. This study employed a cross-sectional developmental trajectories approach to examine the developmental changes in cool (working memory, inhibition, and planning) and hot EF (delay discounting and affective decision-making) of ASD participants (n = 79) and controls (n = 91) relative to age and IQ, shedding more light on the hot-cool EF organization. The developmental trajectories of some aspects of cool EF (working memory and planning) differed significantly as a function of age in ASD participants relative to controls. For both hot EFs, no significant age-related changes were found in either group. These findings extend our understanding regarding the maturation of EF from childhood through adolescence in ASD.