The Mirroring Dance: Synchrony and Interaction Quality of Five Adolescents and Adults on the Autism Spectrum in Dance/Movement Therapy.

Individuals on the autism spectrum are often described as having atypical social interactions. Ideally, interactional synchrony helps any interaction flow smoothly with each individual responding verbally, non-verbally, and/or emotionally within a short timeframe. Differences in interactional synchrony may impact how individuals on the autism spectrum experience social encounters.

Evaluation of sex differences in preschool children with and without autism spectrum disorder enrolled in the study to explore early development.

Background And Aims: Research in school-aged children, adolescents, and adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has found sex-based differences in behavioral, developmental, and diagnostic outcomes. These findings have not been consistently replicated in preschool-aged children. We examined sex-based differences in a large sample of 2-5-year-old children with ASD symptoms in a multi-site community-based study.

Many Young Children with Autism Who Use Psychotropic Medication Do Not Receive Behavior Therapy: A Multisite Case-Control Study.

Objectives: To explore how many pre-school aged children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) used psychotropic medication, child and geographic factors associated with psychotropic medication use, and how many children who used psychotropic medication did or did not ever receive behavior therapy.

Study Design: Children 2-5 years of age were enrolled from 2012 to 2016 in a multisite case-control study designed to investigate the development and risk factors of ASD. Children with a positive ASD screen or ASD diagnosis upon enrollment were asked to complete a comprehensive evaluation to determine ASD status and developmental level.

Wandering Among Preschool Children with and Without Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Objectives: (1) Report the occurrence of wandering, or leaving a supervised space, among children with confirmed autism spectrum disorder (ASD), other developmental delay (DD) with a previous but unconfirmed ASD diagnosis (DDprevASD), DD without a previous ASD diagnosis, and a population comparison group (POP) at an age when wandering is no longer expected and (2) explore whether ASD status is associated with wandering independent of behavioral, developmental, and maternal factors.

Method: Parents and children aged 4 to 5 years enrolled in the Study to Explore Early Development Phase-1+2. All children were screened for ASD symptoms upon enrollment.

Exploration of Aggression/Violence Among Adult Patients Admitted for Short-term, Acute-care Mental Health Services.

Background/purpose: The purpose of the study was to explore and describe: (a) the prevalence of incidents of aggression and violence among patients, including frequency, kinds and severity of incidents of among patients; target of the aggression; (b) situational factors including time of location and time of event; and (c) staff interventions. We describe the relationships among variables to answer the following research questions: (1) What factors are associated with incidents of aggression and violence, and (2) are factors modifiable?

Methods: The exploratory descriptive study used data collected by retrospective chart review over a three-year period; the dates of January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2013. A medical record was included if it met the following criteria: 1) person ages 18-75years; 2) admitted to the psychiatric mental care unit (PMCU) during the designated time frame; 3) the length of stay was up to 7days; and 4) during this time the person made a verbal threat of violence or exhibited violent behavior towards property, self, another patient, or a member of the hospital staff.