Factor analysis of the autism spectrum screening questionnaire in a population-based child sample.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate several possible factor structures of the Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire (ASSQ).

Materials And Methods: We used the 27-item screening tool for school-aged children in a general population of 8-year-old children ( = 3,538) and compared the occurring solutions to previously published factor models.

Results: A one-factor solution and a four-factor solution were identified in Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and confirmed with Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), while two-, three-, five- and six-factor solutions were rejected.

A Comprehensive Analysis of Speech Disfluencies in Autistic Young Adults and Control Young Adults: Group Differences in Typical, Stuttering-Like, and Atypical Disfluencies.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the nature of speech disfluencies in autistic young adults and controls by using a wide-range disfluency classification of typical disfluencies (TD; i.e., filled pauses, revisions, abandoned utterances, and multisyllable word and phrase repetitions), stuttering-like disfluencies (SLD; i.

Non-linguistic comprehension, social inference and empathizing skills in autistic young adults, young adults with autistic traits and control young adults: Group differences and interrelatedness of skills.

Background: Despite increasing knowledge of social communication skills of autistic peole, the interrelatedness of different skills such as non-linguistic comprehension, social inference and empathizing skills is not much known about. A better understanding of the complex interplay between different domains of social communication helps us to develop assessment protocols for individuals with social communication difficulties.

Aims: To compare the performances of autistic young adults, young adults with autistic traits identified in childhood and control young adults in social communication tasks measuring non-linguistic comprehension, social inference and empathizing skills.

Co-activation pattern alterations in autism spectrum disorder-A volume-wise hierarchical clustering fMRI study.

Introduction: There has been a growing effort to characterize the time-varying functional connectivity of resting state (RS) fMRI brain networks (RSNs). Although voxel-wise connectivity studies have examined different sliding window lengths, nonsequential volume-wise approaches have been less common.

Methods: Inspired by earlier co-activation pattern (CAP) studies, we applied hierarchical clustering (HC) to classify the image volumes of the RS-fMRI data on 28 adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their 27 typically developing (TD) controls.

Neuropsychological performance of Finnish and Egyptian children with autism spectrum disorder.

Background: Previous studies investigating neuropsychological functioning of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have only analysed certain abilities, such as executive functions or language. While comprehensive assessment of the neuropsychological profile of children with ASD has been the focus of recent research, most of the published evidence originates from single centres. Though studies on differences in neuropsychological features of children with ASD across countries are essential for identifying different phenotypes of ASD, such studies have not been conducted.

Attention and Working Memory in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Functional MRI Study.

The present study examined attention and memory load-dependent differences in the brain activation and deactivation patterns between adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and typically developing (TD) controls using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Attentional (0-back) and working memory (WM; 2-back) processing and load differences (0 vs. 2-back) were analysed.

Resting state fMRI reveals a default mode dissociation between retrosplenial and medial prefrontal subnetworks in ASD despite motion scrubbing.

In resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) decreased frontal-posterior functional connectivity is a persistent finding. However, the picture of the default mode network (DMN) hypoconnectivity remains incomplete. In addition, the functional connectivity analyses have been shown to be susceptible even to subtle motion.

Validation of the Finnish Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire (ASSQ) for clinical settings and total population screening.

We assessed the validity and determined cut-off scores for the Finnish Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire (ASSQ). A population sample of 8-year-old children (n = 4,408) was rated via the ASSQ by parents and/or teachers, and a subgroup of 104 children was examined via structured interview, semi-structured observation, IQ measurement, school observation, and medical records. Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) were diagnosed following DSM-IV-TR criteria.

Valence scaling of dynamic facial expressions is altered in high-functioning subjects with autism spectrum disorders: an fMRI study.

FMRI was performed with the dynamic facial expressions fear and happiness. This was done to detect differences in valence processing between 25 subjects with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and 27 typically developing controls. Valence scaling was abnormal in ASDs.

Autism spectrum disorders according to DSM-IV-TR and comparison with DSM-5 draft criteria: an epidemiological study.

Objective: The latest definitions of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) were specified in DSM-IV-TR in 2000. DSM-5 criteria are planned for 2013. Here, we estimated the prevalence of ASDs and autism according to DSM-IV-TR, clarified confusion concerning diagnostic criteria, and evaluated DSM-5 draft criteria for ASD posted by the American Psychiatry Association (APA) in February 2010.

Functional mapping of dynamic happy and fearful facial expression processing in adolescents.

This paper assessed the neural systems involved in processing of dynamic facial expressions in adolescents. The processing of facial expressions changes as a function of age, and it is thus important to understand how healthy adolescent subjects process dynamic facial expressions prior to analyzing disease-related changes. We hypothesized that viewing of dynamic facial expressions with opposing valences (happy vs.

Comorbid psychiatric disorders associated with Asperger syndrome/high-functioning autism: a community- and clinic-based study.

The present study identifies the prevalence and types of comorbid psychiatric disorders associated with Asperger syndrome (AS)/high-functioning autism (HFA) in a combined community- and clinic-based sample of fifty 9- to 16-year-old subjects using the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children, Present and Lifetime Version. The level of functioning was estimated using the Children's Global Assessment Scale. The results support common (prevalence 74%) and often multiple comorbid psychiatric disorders in AS/HFA; behavioral disorders were shown in 44%, anxiety disorders in 42% and tic disorders in 26%.

Alterations in regional homogeneity of resting-state brain activity in autism spectrum disorders.

Measures assessing resting-state brain activity with blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) can reveal cognitive disorders at an early stage. Analysis of regional homogeneity (ReHo) measures the local synchronization of spontaneous fMRI signals and has been successfully utilized in detecting alterations in subjects with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression, schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's dementia. Resting-state brain activity was investigated in 28 adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and 27 typically developing controls being imaged with BOLD fMRI and analyzed with the ReHo method.

Multi-informant reports of psychiatric symptoms among high-functioning adolescents with Asperger syndrome or autism.

The aim of the study was to examine psychiatric symptoms in high-functioning adolescents with autism spectrum disorders reported by multiple informants. Forty-three 11- to 17-year-old adolescents with Asperger syndrome (AS) or high-functioning autism (HFA) and 217 typically developed adolescents completed the Youth Self-Report (YSR), while their parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Teachers of adolescents with AS/HFA completed the Teacher Report Form (TRF).

When does the Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire (ASSQ) predict autism spectrum disorders in primary school-aged children?

The aims of this study were, firstly, to study the association between parents' and teachers' ratings for the Finnish version of the Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire (ASSQ), secondly, to find out whether the original cut-off scores of the ASSQ identify primary school-aged children with Asperger syndrome (AS) or autism by using the Finnish ASSQ, and thirdly, to evaluate the validity of the ASSQ. Parents and/or teachers of higher-functioning (full-scale intelligence quotient > or = 50) 8-year-old total population school children (n = 4,408) and 7-12-year-old outpatients with AS/autism (n = 47) completed the Finnish version of the ASSQ. Agreement between informants was slight.

Emotion recognition in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders.

We examined upper facial basic emotion recognition in 57 subjects with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) (M = 13.5 years) and 33 typically developing controls (M = 14.3 years) by using a standardized computer-aided measure (The Frankfurt Test and Training of Facial Affect Recognition, FEFA).

Psychometric evaluation of social phobia and anxiety inventory for children (SPAI-C) and social anxiety scale for children-revised (SASC-R).

The study evaluated the psychometric properties of Finnish versions of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C) and the Social Anxiety Scale for Children-Revised (SASC-R). 352 students (M = 12.2 years) participated in the study and completed the SPAI-C and SASC-R.

Social anxiety in high-functioning children and adolescents with Autism and Asperger syndrome.

We examined social anxiety and internalizing symptoms using the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C), the Social Anxiety Scale for Children -Revised (SASC-R), and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) in a sample of fifty-four high-functioning subjects with autism or Asperger syndrome (HFA/AS) (M = 11.2 +/- 1.7 years) and 305 community subjects (M = 12.

An epidemiological and diagnostic study of Asperger syndrome according to four sets of diagnostic criteria.

Objective: This study evaluated the diagnostic process and prevalence rates of Asperger syndrome (AS) according to the DSM-IV, ICD-10, and criteria developed by Gillberg and Gillberg and by Szatmari and colleagues and clarified confusion about AS.

Method: An epidemiological study of 5,484 eight-year-old children in Finland, 4,422 (80.6%) of whom rated on the high-functioning Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire by parents and/or teacher, 125 of them screened and 110 examined by using structured interview, semistructured observation, IQ measurement, school day observation, and patient records.

Answering contextually demanding questions: pragmatic errors produced by children with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism.

Unlabelled: This study examined irrelevant/incorrect answers produced by children with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism (7-9-year-olds and 10-12-year-olds) and normally developing children (7-9-year-olds). The errors produced were divided into three types: in Type 1, the child answered the original question incorrectly, in Type 2, the child gave a correct answer, but when asked a follow-up question, he/she explained the answer incorrectly, and in Type 3, the child first gave a correct answer or explanation, but continued answering, which ultimately led to an irrelevant answer. Analyses of Type 1 and 2 errors indicated that all the children tried to utilize contextual information, albeit incorrectly.

Use of context in pragmatic language comprehension by children with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism.

Utilizing relevance theory, this study investigated the ability of children with Asperger syndrome (AS) and high-functioning autism (HFA) to use context when answering questions and when giving explanations for their correct answers. Three groups participated in this study: younger AS/HFA group (age 7-9, n=16), older AS/HFA group (age 10-12, n=23) and a normally functioning control group (age 7-9, n=23). The results indicated that the younger AS/HFA group did less well when answering contextually demanding questions compared to the control group, and the performance of the older AS/HFA group fell in between the younger AS/HFA group and the control group.