Browsing problematic social media use in autism spectrum disorder: The role of social anxiety.

Accessing the Internet is one of the most frequent free-time activities among autistic and non-autistic adolescents. Autistic individuals may experience communicative benefits from using the Internet. However, they may also be at risk of developing Problematic Social Media Use (PSMU).

"Picture this from there": spatial perspective-taking in developmental visuospatial disorder and developmental coordination disorder.

Introduction: Either Developmental Visuospatial Disorder (DVSD) and Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) present with difficulties in visuospatial processing, even though entailing different degrees of impairment. Among the visuospatial domain, spatial perspective taking is essential to interact with the environment and is significantly involved in many daily activities (e.g.

Social Functioning in Children and Adolescents with ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Cross-Disorder Comparison.

Objective: Social functioning can be defined according to three main components: social perception, social performance, and social knowledge. Although they are important in daily life relationships and in children's adaptation, these components have never been tested together in children and adolescents with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) using lab-based tasks. The present study used a cross-disorder approach to compare the performance of children with ADHD and ASD and non-diagnosed (ND) peers utilizing a task that involves these three fundamental social functioning components.

Let's face it! The role of social anxiety and executive functions in recognizing others' emotions from faces: Evidence from autism and specific learning disorders.

Youth with different developmental disorders might experience challenges when dealing with facial emotion recognition (FER). By comparing FER and related emotional and cognitive factors across developmental disorders, researchers can gain a better understanding of challenges and strengths associated with each condition. The aim of the present study was to investigate how social anxiety and executive functioning might underlie FER in youth with and without autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and specific learning disorders (SLD).

Trajectory assessments of cognitive, visuospatial, and academic profile in nonverbal learning disability (visuospatial developmental disorder).

Substantial progress has been made in defining children with nonverbal learning disability (NLD), but longitudinal studies are still lacking. To start filling this gap, we examined changes in general cognitive functioning, visuo-constructive skills, and academic profiles in a group of children with NLD, also taking into account any internalizing and externalizing symptom as transdiagnostic features. A total of 30 participants (24 boys) diagnosed with NLD were tested twice, with a three-year gap between the two assessments (T1: at age 8-13; T2: at 11-16), on their cognitive profile, visuospatial abilities, and academic performance (i.

Social perception in children and adolescents with ADHD: The role of higher-order cognitive skills.

Despite children with ADHD frequently experiencing difficulties in social perception, the mechanisms underlying this impairment have been poorly explored. In this study, we examined social perception in children with ADHD, comparing them with typically-developing (TD) children on semi-naturalistic tasks, and considering the effect of nonverbal signal recognition. Our aim was to ascertain whether the two groups' social perception related to different types of stimulus (video, audio or combined/multimodal).

Do comorbid symptoms discriminate between autism spectrum disorder, ADHD and nonverbal learning disability?

Characterizing the functioning of individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders is crucial to their diagnosis. Research has found that children with different neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorders (ASD), attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and nonverbal learning disability (NLD), may have comorbid symptoms of anxiety and depression, and problems with pragmatic language. The main aim of the present study was to identify any differences in the above-mentioned comorbid symptoms associated with these clinical profiles.

The Processes Underlying Positive Illusory Bias in ADHD: The Role of Executive Functions and Pragmatic Language Skills.

Objective: Children with ADHD often show a positive illusory bias (PIB), reporting an extremely positive idea of their own competence, despite their difficulties. The mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are still poorly understood. In the present study, we examined social PIB and investigated the role of executive functions (EFs) and pragmatic language (PL).

Research Review: Language and specific learning disorders in children and their co-occurrence with internalizing and externalizing problems: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Some studies suggest that children with language and learning disorders (LLDs) show more internalizing and externalizing problems than their peers. However, the available evidence remains inconsistent, especially regarding the conditions under which these psychological problems occur.

Methods: We performed a meta-analysis of studies comparing children with LLDs and controls on internalizing (53 independent samples, 135 effect sizes) and externalizing problems (37 independent samples, 61 effect sizes) separately.

Executive Functions in Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Comorbidity Overlaps Between Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder and Specific Learning Disorders.

The present study examines the comorbidity between specific learning disorders (SLD) and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) by comparing the neuropsychological profiles of children with and without this comorbidity. Ninety-seven schoolchildren from 8 to 14 years old were tested: a clinical sample of 49 children with ADHD ( = 18), SLD ( = 18) or SLD in comorbidity with ADHD ( = 13), and 48 typically-developing (TD) children matched for age and intelligence. Participants were administered tasks and questionnaires to confirm their initial diagnosis, and a battery of executive function (EF) tasks testing inhibition, shifting, and verbal and visuospatial updating.

Pragmatic Language in Children and Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Do Theory of Mind and Executive Functions Have a Mediating Role?

Pragmatic language (PL) is defined as the ability to use language effectively in communicative exchanges. Previous findings showed that deficits in PL are a core characteristic of the communicative profile of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). While different lines of research have revealed a close link between PL and theory of mind (ToM), and between PL and executive functions (EFs), to our knowledge, few studies have explored the relationship between these three domains in children with ASD, and their results have been contradictory.

Spatial Perspective-Taking in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders: The Predictive Role of Visuospatial and Motor Abilities.

Despite its impact on everyday functioning, spatial perspective-taking has rarely been investigated in autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and previous findings are surprisingly sparse and inconsistent. In the present study, we aimed to investigate spatial perspective-taking abilities in children and adolescents with ASD without intellectual disabilities, comparing them with a group of typically developing (TD) peers. Our objectives were: (i) to test similarities and differences between these groups in a spatial perspective-taking task; and (ii) to see whether similar or different underlying processes (i.

A comparison of local-global visuospatial processing in autism spectrum disorder, nonverbal learning disability, ADHD and typical development.

Background: Research on visuospatial functioning has revealed cognitive challenges for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), nonverbal learning disability (NLD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). These disorders are characterized by some overlapping symptoms, making their diagnosis a challenge.

Aims: The study aims to clarify the role of visuospatial abilities in their neuropsychological profiles by investigating different visuospatial domains and their interplay with the local-global processing.

A cross-task comparison on visuospatial processing in autism spectrum disorders.

This study aimed to draw a cross-task comparison on visuospatial processing in autism spectrum disorder without intellectual disability. Participants with autism spectrum disorder were matched with typically developing individuals on general intelligence and perceptual reasoning index. The two groups were subsequently compared on visuospatial processing speed, visuo-perceptual, visuo-constructive, and visuospatial working memory tasks.

Differences in visuospatial processing in individuals with nonverbal learning disability or autism spectrum disorder without intellectual disability.

Objective: Although previous reports produced converging empirical evidence of a core deficit on visuospatial processing in children with a nonverbal learning disability (NLD), few studies compared the visuospatial profile of individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or NLD in visuoconstructive and visuospatial working memory tasks. Nor did any of these studies investigate the role of the local bias, typically observed in ASD, when comparing these clinical groups. The present study aimed to analyze whether NLD and ASD share any characteristics.

Visuoconstructive abilities and visuospatial memory in autism spectrum disorder without intellectual disability: Is the role of local bias specific to the cognitive domain tested?

Objective: Visuospatial processing in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) without intellectual disability remains only partly understood. The aim of the present study was to investigate global versus local visuospatial processing in individuals with ASD, comparing them with typically developing (TD) controls in visuoconstructive and visuospatial memory tasks.

Method: There were 21 participants with ASD without intellectual disability, and 21 TD controls matched for chronological age (M = 161.

Pragmatics of language and theory of mind in children with dyslexia with associated language difficulties or nonverbal learning disabilities.

The present study aims to find empirical evidence of deficits in linguistic pragmatic skills and theory of mind (ToM) in children with dyslexia with associated language difficulties or nonverbal learning disabilities (NLD), when compared with a group of typically developing (TD) children matched for age and gender. Our results indicate that children with dyslexia perform less well than TD children in most of the tasks measuring pragmatics of language, and in one of the tasks measuring ToM. In contrast, children with NLD generally performed better than the dyslexia group, and performed significantly worse than the TD children only in a metaphors task based on visual stimuli.