Understanding the heterogeneity of anxiety in autistic youth: A person-centered approach.

The present study aimed to examine anxiety profiles among children and adolescents on the autism spectrum. It further aimed to characterize the association between the identified anxiety profiles and key clinical and developmental variables. The Spence Children's Anxiety Scale-Parent Version (SCAS-P) data from a large international pooled sample of 870 caregivers of autistic children and adolescents (M  = 11.

Utilizing the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) as an Autism Spectrum Disorder Preliminary Screener and Outcome Measure for the PEERS® Intervention for Autistic Adolescents.

Exploration of potential preliminary screeners, and examination of social intervention outcomes for effects on comorbid symptoms is imperative. The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; Achenbach & Rescorla, Achenbach and Rescorla, Manual for the ASEBA school-age forms & profiles, University of Vermont, Research Center for Children, Youth & Families, 2001) provides a potential ASD screener and intervention outcome evaluation. This study had two aims: (1) to examine CBCL scales scores as a potential ASD screener; (2) to investigate PEERS® outcomes via the CBCL for Autistic adolescents.

Changes in Electroencephalogram Coherence in Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder After a Social Skills Intervention.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental condition that affects social communication and behavior. There is consensus that neurological differences are present in ASD. Further, theories emphasize the mixture of hypo- and hyper-connectivity as a neuropathologies in ASD [O'Reilly, Lewis, & Elsabbagh, 2017]; however, there is a paucity of studies specifically testing neurological underpinnings as predictors of success on social skills interventions.

The role of loneliness as a mediator between autism features and mental health among autistic young adults.

Autistic adults commonly experience mental health concerns including social anxiety and depression, which can have negative effects on their quality of life. It is not completely clear, however, why rates of mental health concerns are so high. Some evidence suggests that social connectedness might play a key role.

Applying the Vulnerability Stress Adaptation Model of Marriage to Couples Raising an Autistic Child: A Call for Research on Adaptive Processes.

Parents of children on the autism spectrum are particularly susceptible to strain in their romantic relationships due to unique risk factors. While some relationships deteriorate, however, others endure and thrive. The Vulnerability Stress Adaptation (VSA) Model of Marriage (Karney & Bradbury, 1995; Fig.

A Psychometric Analysis of the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents Among Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Caregiver-Adolescent Agreement, Factor Structure, and Validity.

Social anxiety is common among adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). An ongoing challenge for both research and clinical practice in ASD is the assessment of anxious symptomatology. Despite its widespread use in samples of youth with ASD, the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A) has not received psychometric evaluation within this population; thus, the validity of its use in research and clinical practice for ASD remains unclear.

Behavioral inhibition and activation as a modifier process in autism spectrum disorder: Examination of self-reported BIS/BAS and alpha EEG asymmetry.

The Modifier Model of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) suggests that phenotypic variability within ASD is rooted in modifier processes, such as the behavioral inhibition system (BIS) and behavioral activation system (BAS). Among a sample of 53 adolescents with ASD, this study examined associations between (a) self-reported BIS/BAS and frontal and parietal alpha electroencephalogram asymmetry and whether these indices related to (b) ASD severity (via the Autism Quotient), and/or (c) co-occurring anxiety and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (via Youth Self Report and Child Behavior Checklist). Findings showed that alpha asymmetry was associated with self-reported BAS scores, such that greater BAS was related to greater right-frontal hemisphere activation and relatively greater left-parietal hemisphere activation.

Social difficulties in youth with autism with and without anxiety and ADHD symptoms.

Social difficulties inherent to autism spectrum disorder are often linked with co-occurring symptoms of anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The present study sought to examine the relation between such co-occurring symptoms and social challenges. Parents of adolescents with autism (N = 113) reported upon social challenges via the social responsiveness scale (SRS) and anxiety and ADHD symptomatology via the Child Behavior Checklist.

Examining the Links Between Challenging Behaviors in Youth with ASD and Parental Stress, Mental Health, and Involvement: Applying an Adaptation of the Family Stress Model to Families of Youth with ASD.

Raising a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) poses unique challenges that may impact parents' mental health and parenting experiences. The current study analyzed self-report data from 77 parents of youth with ASD. A serial multiple mediation model revealed that parenting stress (SIPA) and parental mental health (BAI and BDI-II) appears to be impacted by challenging adolescent behaviors (SSIS-PBs) and, in turn, affect parental involvement (PRQ), controlling for social skills (SSIS-SSs).

Changes in Depressive Symptoms Among Adolescents with ASD Completing the PEERS Social Skills Intervention.

Depression is a common concern among people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and is often associated with social skills and relationship challenges. The present data, from a randomized controlled trial, examined the effect of PEERS on self-reported depressive symptoms via the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) among 49 adolescents with ASD. Findings revealed that many CDI subscale scores declined (p's < 0.

Brief Report: Does Gender Matter in Intervention for ASD? Examining the Impact of the PEERS Social Skills Intervention on Social Behavior Among Females with ASD.

A paucity of research has been conducted to examine the effect of social skills intervention on females with ASD. Females with ASD may have more difficulty developing meaningful friendships than males, as the social climate can be more complex (Archer, Coyne, Personality and Social Psychology Review 9(3):212-230, 2005). This study examined whether treatment response among females differed from males.

A Replication and Extension of the PEERS® for Young Adults Social Skills Intervention: Examining Effects on Social Skills and Social Anxiety in Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Young adults with ASD experience difficulties with social skills, empathy, loneliness, and social anxiety. One intervention, PEERS® for Young Adults, shows promise in addressing these challenges. The present study replicated and extended the original study by recruiting a larger sample (N = 56), employing a gold standard ASD assessment tool, and examining changes in social anxiety utilizing a randomized controlled trial design.

Parent and family outcomes of PEERS: a social skills intervention for adolescents with autism spectrum disorder.

Raising a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with increased family chaos and parent distress. Successful long-term treatment outcomes are dependent on healthy systemic functioning, but the family impact of treatment is rarely evaluated. The Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS) is a social skills intervention designed for adolescents with high-functioning ASD.

Measuring the plasticity of social approach: a randomized controlled trial of the effects of the PEERS intervention on EEG asymmetry in adolescents with autism spectrum disorders.

This study examined whether the Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS: Social skills for teenagers with developmental and autism spectrum disorders: The PEERS treatment manual, Routledge, New York, 2010a) affected neural function, via EEG asymmetry, in a randomized controlled trial of adolescents with Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and a group of typically developing adolescents. Adolescents with ASD in PEERS shifted from right-hemisphere gamma-band EEG asymmetry before PEERS to left-hemisphere EEG asymmetry after PEERS, versus a waitlist ASD group. Left-hemisphere EEG asymmetry was associated with more social contacts and knowledge, and fewer symptoms of autism.

Brief report: visuo-spatial guidance of movement during gesture imitation and mirror drawing in children with autism spectrum disorders.

Thirteen autistic and 14 typically developing children (controls) imitated hand/arm gestures and performed mirror drawing; both tasks assessed ability to reorganize the relationship between spatial goals and the motor commands needed to acquire them. During imitation, children with autism were less accurate than controls in replicating hand shape, hand orientation, and number of constituent limb movements. During shape tracing, children with autism performed accurately with direct visual feedback, but when viewing their hand in a mirror, some children with autism generated fewer errors than controls whereas others performed much worse.

Parent and family impact of autism spectrum disorders: a review and proposed model for intervention evaluation.

Raising a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be an overwhelming experience for parents and families. The pervasive and severe deficits often present in children with ASD are associated with a plethora of difficulties in caregivers, including decreased parenting efficacy, increased parenting stress, and an increase in mental and physical health problems compared with parents of both typically developing children and children with other developmental disorders. In addition to significant financial strain and time pressures, high rates of divorce and lower overall family well-being highlight the burden that having a child with an ASD can place on families.

Infant responding to joint attention, executive processes, and self-regulation in preschool children.

Infant joint attention is related to behavioral and social outcomes, as well as language in childhood. Recent research and theory suggests that the relations between joint attention and social-behavioral outcomes may reflect the role of executive self-regulatory processes in the development of joint attention. To test this hypothesis two studies were conducted.

Emotion recognition in children with autism spectrum disorders: relations to eye gaze and autonomic state.

Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia (RSA), heart rate, and accuracy and latency of emotion recognition were evaluated in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and typically developing children while viewing videos of faces slowly transitioning from a neutral expression to one of six basic emotions (e.g., anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise).

Electroencephalogram and heart rate regulation to familiar and unfamiliar people in children with autism spectrum disorders.

Few studies have examined whether familiarity of partner affects social responses in children with autism. This study investigated heart rate regulation (respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA]: The myelinated vagus nerve's regulation of heart rate) and temporal-parietal electroencephalogram (EEG) activity while nineteen 8- to 12-year-old children with autism and 14 controls viewed videos of a familiar and an unfamiliar person reading a story. Children with autism had lower overall RSA levels and exhibited decreased RSA to the unfamiliar person, versus control children.

Anticipatory smiling: linking early affective communication and social outcome.

In anticipatory smiles, infants appear to communicate pre-existing positive affect by smiling at an object and then turning the smile toward an adult. We report two studies in which the precursors, development, and consequences of anticipatory smiling were investigated. Study 1 revealed a positive correlation between infant smiling at 6 months and the level of anticipatory smiling at 8 and 10 months during joint attention episodes, as well as a positive correlation between anticipatory smiling and parent-rated social expressivity scores at 30 months.

Individual differences and the development of joint attention in infancy.

This study examined the development of joint attention in 95 infants assessed between 9 and 18 months of age. Infants displayed significant test-retest reliability on measures of following gaze and gestures (responding to joint attention, RJA) and in their use of eye contact to establish social attention coordination (initiating joint attention, IJA). Infants displayed a linear, increasing pattern of age-related growth on most joint attention measures.

Infant joint attention, temperament, and social competence in preschool children.

Infant joint attention has been observed to be related to social-emotional outcomes in at-risk children. To address whether this relation is also evident in typically developing children, 52 children were tested at 12, 15, 24, and 30 months to examine associations between infant joint attention and social outcomes. Twelve-month initiating and responding to joint attention were related to 30-month social competence and externalizing behavior, even when accounting for 15-month temperament ratings, 24-month cognition and language, and demographic variables.

Social attribution processes and comorbid psychiatric symptoms in children with Asperger syndrome.

The factors that place children with Asperger syndrome at risk for comorbid psychiatric symptoms, such as anxiety and depression, remain poorly understood. We investigated the possibility that the children's emotional and behavioral difficulties are associated with social information and attribution processing. Participants were children with either Asperger syndrome (n = 31) or typical development (n = 33).