Delay of Gratification in Preschoolers with Autism and Concerns for ADHD.

Objective: Self-regulation abilities in childhood are predictive of a range of challenges later in life, making it important to identify difficulties in this area as early as possible. Autistic children and those with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often have difficulties with self-regulation, but little is known about the similarities and differences in such abilities across neurodevelopmental conditions.

Method: We examined self-regulation using a delay of gratification task in 36-month-old autistic children ( = 20), those showing clinically relevant concerns for ADHD (i.

Eye of the beholder: Neural synchrony of dynamically changing relations between parent praise and child affect.

In this study, we aimed to determine the role of parental praise and child affect in the neural processes underlying parent-child interactions, utilizing functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning. We characterized the dynamic changes in interpersonal neural synchrony (INS) between parents and children (4-6 years old, n = 40 dyads) during a cognitively challenging task. We then examined how changes in parent-child INS are influenced by parental feedback and child affect.

Youth Polygenic Scores, Youth ADHD Symptoms, and Parenting Dimensions: An Evocative Gene-Environment Correlation Study.

Parenting practices and parental symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been linked to severity and course of youth ADHD. However, genetically influenced behaviors related to ADHD in youth may also influence parenting behaviors. Polygenic scores (PGS) have been widely used to quantify genetic vulnerability for ADHD but has rarely been used to examine gene-environment correlation effects.

Patterns of objectively measured motor activity among infants developing ASD and concerns for ADHD.

Background: Heightened motor activity is a hallmark of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), yet high activity levels are also often reported in young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It is currently unclear whether increased motor activity represents a distinct versus shared early predictor of ASD and ADHD; no prior studies have directly examined this prospectively. We investigated differences in longitudinal patterns of objectively measured motor activity during early development.

Shared and distinct developmental pathways to ASD and ADHD phenotypes among infants at familial risk.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are believed to share partially overlapping causal mechanisms suggesting that early risk markers may also overlap. Using latent profile analysis (LPA) in a sample of infants enriched for ASD and ADHD, we first examined the number of distinct groups of 3-year-old children, based on ADHD and ASD symptomatology. To investigate early predictors of ASD and ADHD symptom profiles, we next examined differences in trajectories of infant behaviors among the LPA classes spanning general development, negative affect, attention, activity level, impulsivity, and social behavior.

Longitudinal Differences in Response to Name Among Infants Developing ASD and Risk for ADHD.

Diminished response to name, a potential early marker of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), may also indicate risk for other disorders characterized by attention problems, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Using a familial risk design, we examined whether response to name ability at 6, 12, 18, 24, and 36 months of age differed between three 36-month outcome groups: ASD, ADHD Concerns, or a Comparison group. Persistent differences between the ASD and Comparison groups were evident beginning at 12 months; differences between the ADHD Concerns and Comparison groups were evident between 12 and 18 months only.