WISC-R subtest but no overall VIQ-PIQ difference in Dutch children with PDD-NOS

VIQ-PIQ differences have been studied in children with autism and Asperger syndrome but have not been studied in a separate group of children with PDD-NO, although, PDD-NOS has a much higher prevalence rate than autism and deficits in communication and social interaction are severe. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) was administered to 100 children, aged 6-12 years, with PDD-NOS (n = 76), autism (n = 13), and Asperger syndrome (n = 11). PDD-NOS was diagnosed using explicit research criteria. No overall differences between VIQ and PIQ were found in PDD-NOS and autism. Peaks in the subtest scores on Information, Similarities, Picture Arrangement, and Mazes, and troughs in the subtest scores on Comprehension, Digit Span, and Coding were demonstrated in children with PDD-NOS. Their score on the Freedom from Distractibility factor was lower than the scores on the Verbal Comprehension factor and the Perceptual Organization factor. Children with PDD-NOS seemed to have a similar VIQ-PIQ profile as children with autism, and on the subtest level children with PDD-NOS showed some similarities to children with Asperger syndrome or autism. It was not possible to distinguish PDD-NOS from autism or Asperger syndrome by using IQ scores.     

WISC-R Subtest But No Overall VIQ–PIQ Difference in Dutch Children with PDD-NOS

VIQ–PIQ differences have been studied in children with autism and Asperger syndrome but have not been studied in a separate group of children with PDD-NO, although, PDD-NOS has a much higher prevalence rate than autism and deficits in communication and social interaction are severe. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) was administered to 100 children, aged 6–12 years, with PDD-NOS (n = 76), autism (n = 13), and Asperger syndrome (n = 11). PDD-NOS was diagnosed using explicit research criteria. No overall differences between VIQ and PIQ were found in PDD-NOS and autism. Peaks in the subtest scores on Information, Similarities, Picture Arrangement, and Mazes, and troughs in the subtest scores on Comprehension, Digit Span, and Coding were demonstrated in children with PDD-NOS. Their score on the Freedom from Distractibility factor was lower than the scores on the Verbal Comprehension factor and the Perceptual Organization factor. Children with PDD-NOS seemed to have a similar VIQ–PIQ profile as children with autism, and on the subtest level children with PDD-NOS showed some similarities to children with Asperger syndrome or autism. It was not possible to distinguish PDD-NOS from autism or Asperger syndrome by using IQ scores.     

Behavioral and Emotional Problems on the Teacher’s Report Form: A Cross-National,Cross-Clinic Comparative Analysis of Gender Dysphoric Children and Adolescents

For gender dysphoric children and adolescents, the school environment may be challenging due to peer social ostracism and rejection. To date, information on the psychological functioning and the quality of peer relations in gender dysphoric children and adolescents has been studied via parental report, peer sociometric methods, and social interactions in laboratory play groups. The present study was the first cross-national investigation that assessed behavior and emotional problems and the quality of peer relations, both measured by the Teacher’s Report Form (TRF), in a sample of 728 gender dysphoric patients (554 children, 174 adolescents), who were referred to specialized gender identity clinics in the Netherlands and Canada. The gender dysphoric adolescents had significantly more teacher-reported emotional and behavioral problems than the gender dysphoric children. In both countries, gender dysphoric natal boys had poorer peer relations and more internalizing than externalizing problems compared to the gender dysphoric natal girls. Furthermore, there were significant between-clinic differences: both the children and the adolescents from Canada had more emotional and behavioral problems and a poorer quality of peer relations than the children and adolescents from the Netherlands. In conclusion, gender dysphoric children and adolescents showed the same pattern of emotional and behavioral problems in both countries. The extent of behavior and emotional problems was, however, higher in Canada than in the Netherlands, which appeared, in part, an effect of a poorer quality of peer relations. Per Bronfenbrenner’s (American Psychologist, 32, 513–531, 1977) ecological model of human development and well-being, we consider various interpretations of the cross-national, cross-clinic differences on TRF behavior problems at the level of the family, the peer group, and the culture at large.     

Higher functioning children with prenatal alcohol exposure: Is there a specific neurocognitive profile?

Recent attempts to identify a neurocognitive profile of children with prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) have led to an emerging “generalized deficit” conceptualization marked by diffuse information processing and integration difficulties as opposed to a specific profile. This study examines whether this conceptualization can be extended to higher functioning children with PAE who are without intellectual disability and addresses several limitations of previous research. One hundred twenty-five children aged 6–12 years with social skills deficits, 97 of whom met diagnostic criteria for a Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), underwent a comprehensive, multi-informant assessment of neurocognitive, emotional, social, behavioral, and adaptive functioning. Multivariate analyses of variance examined differences in functioning between the PAE group and a nonexposed comparison group with and without controlling for child IQ. Results indicated that the PAE group returned significantly poorer scores than the nonexposed group on every construct assessed, including executive functioning, attention, working/visuospatial memory, linguistic abstraction, adaptive behavior, emotional/behavioral functioning, and social cognition. These differences largely maintained after controlling for IQ and were similar regardless of informant, although teachers reported somewhat fewer group differences. Within the PAE group, no differences were found across FASD subtypes. These results provide evidence extending the emerging generalized deficit conceptualization of children with PAE to those higher functioning individuals without global intellectual disability.     

Psychotherapy for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) present unique challenges for psychotherapists. Those with autism, Asperger’s Disorder and pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) show impairments in social communication and social relationships as well as unusual behavioral features that set them apart from peers. Further, individuals affected with autism spectrum disorders may experience anxiety, depression, obsessive–compulsive disorder and other psychiatric symptoms that can be distressing and, at times, disabling. At present, there is limited information regarding evidence-based approaches for addressing either core impairments of ASDs or associated conditions in a psychotherapy setting. Nevertheless, information about how persons with ASD experience their world and learn can provide clues about what interventions might be useful to assist them such that they can reach their fullest potential. From this standpoint, new or modified approaches to therapy can be tested and further refined to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the psychotherapeutic challenges and the most efficacious therapeutic approach to maximize functioning in this population.     

Expressive drawing ability in children with autism

The autistic impairments in emotional and social competence, imagination and generating ideas predict qualitative differences in expressive drawings by children with autism beyond that accounted by any general learning difficulties. In a sample of 60 5–19‐year‐olds, happy and sad drawings were requested from 15 participants with non‐savant autism and compared with those drawn by three control groups matched on either degree of learning difficulty (MLD), mental age (MA) or chronological age (CA). All drawings were rated by two artists on a 7‐point quality of expression scale. Contrary to our predictions, the drawings from the autistic group were rated similar to those of the MA and MLD groups. Analysis of the people and social content of the drawings revealed that although children with autism did not draw fewer people, they did draw more immature forms than mental age controls. Furthermore, there was tentative evidence that fewer social scenes were produced by the autism sample. We conclude that the overall merit of expressive drawing in autism is commensurate with their general learning difficulties, but the social/emotional impairment in autism affects their drawings of people and social scenes.     

The role of executive functions in social impairment in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by socio-communicative impairments. Executive dysfunction may explain some key characteristics of ASD, both social and nonsocial hallmarks. Limited research exists exploring the relations between executive function and social impairment in ASD and few studies have used a comparison control group. Thus, the objective of the present study was to investigate the relations between executive functioning using the Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Functioning (BRIEF), social impairment as measured by the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), and overall autistic symptomology as measured by the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) in children and adolescents with and without ASD. Seventy children and adolescents diagnosed with ASD and 71 typically developing controls were included in this study. Findings showed that behavioral regulation executive processes (i.e., inhibition, shifting, and emotional control) predicted social function in all children. However, metacognitive executive processes (i.e., initiation, working memory, planning, organization, and monitoring) predicted social function only in children with ASD and not in typically developing children. Our findings suggest a distinct metacognitive executive function-social symptom link in ASD that is not present in the typical population. Understanding components of executive functioning that contribute to the autistic symptomology, particularly in the socio-communicative domain, is crucial for developing effective interventions that target key executive processes as well as underlying behavioral symptoms.     

Association Between Socio-Ecological Risk Factor Clustering and Mental,Emotional, and Behavioral Problems in Hispanic Adolescents

Compared to non-Hispanic whites, Hispanic adolescents in the U.S. report higher rates of several mental, emotional, and behavioral problems such as substance use, sexual risk behaviors, and internalizing and externalizing problems. There is evidence of common pathways in the development of mental, emotional, and behavioral problems with certain subgroups of Hispanic adolescents being at greater risk. In the present article, we report analysis of baseline data for 959 Hispanic adolescents who participated in one of two randomized controlled trials evaluating a family-based preventive intervention. Utilizing latent class analysis, we identified subgroups of Hispanic adolescents based on socio-ecological risk and protective factors (e.g., parent–adolescent communication, parental involvement in school). Three distinct socio-ecological risk subgroups (high, medium, and low risk) were identified and exhibited significant differences from each other across a majority of socio-ecological risk and protective factors. Adolescents in higher socio-ecological risk subgroups reported greater mental, emotional, and behavioral problems across all outcomes. Individual comparisons revealed significant differences between the low socio-ecological risk group and both the medium and high socio-ecological risk group in lifetime alcohol use, smoking, and sex, as well as internalizing and externalizing problems. Implications for intervention include focusing on specific risk subgroups and targeting shared risk and protective factors rather than specific mental, emotional, and behavioral outcomes.     

Executive Function and Emotional,Behavioral, and Social Competence Problems in Children with Epilepsy

Many researchers have reported elevated rates of emotional, behavioral, and social competence problems (EBSP) in children with epilepsy. Although executive function has been found to be associated with EBSP in children with typical development, almost no research has looked at the individual components of executive function as potential predictors of EBSP in children with epilepsy. This is surprising given the deficits in executive function in children with epilepsy. We investigated EBSP and executive function in 42 children with epilepsy, aged 6.0 to 18.1 years and found, as expected, that EBSP were associated with executive function in these children even after epilepsy-related variables, such as seizure type, were accounted for. However, different components of executive function were related to different emotional, behavioral, and social competence problems in these children. Shifting of mental sets was a significant predictor of emotional, behavioral, and social competence problems whereas inhibition was a significant predictor of behavioral problems. This suggests that different executive function profiles in children with epilepsy may place them at-risk for developing different types of emotional, behavioral, and social competence problems. These results may help researchers and clinicians develop new techniques to identify and treat emotional, behavioral, and social competence problems in children with epilepsy.     

孤独症儿童的情绪共情能力及情绪表情注意方式

研究探讨了孤独症儿童的情绪共情能力及情绪表情注意方式的特点。各选取15名孤独症儿童以及作为对照组的智力障碍儿童和普通儿童各15名, 完成情绪共情实验, 同时使用生物反馈仪记录自主生理反应, 眼动仪记录眼动轨迹。结果发现孤独症儿童对情绪表情的自动模仿及感知能力显著低于智力障碍儿童与普通儿童; 对面孔的总注视时间、总注视点数均显著少于智力障碍儿童、普通儿童; 对眼部、嘴部的注视时间比及注视点数比均显著低于普通儿童; 对高兴和悲伤表情的注意较多而对恐惧则较少。这提示孤独症儿童的情绪共情能力不足、对情绪表情的注意方式异常。     

Adolescent Adjustment and the Transition to High School

We examined the impact of the transition from elementary to high school on the psychological adjustment of adolescents, and the effectiveness of an assessment procedure aimed at identifying adolescents experiencing emotional and behavioral problems. One hundred and ten children from 2 elementary schools within the greater Brisbane area were followed across the transition from elementary to high school and screened for emotional and behavioral problems in grade 7 and again in grade 8. It was found that, in general, the transition to high school did not coincide with a marked decrease in psychological adjustment. Structured clinical interviews with adolescents in grade 8 showed that 13% of boys and 15% of girls experienced a diagnosable DSM-IV psychological disorder and that a further 15% of boys and 15% of girls suffered from features of a psychological disorder. Furthermore, results of discriminant function analyses showed that a combination of self report of adjustment, teacher report of adjustment, and assessment of relevant family variables obtained in grade 7 predicted the absence or presence of emotional and behavioral problems, six months later, in up to 77% of children. Results are discussed in terms of the impact of the transition to high school, the effectiveness of community-based assessment programs for adolescents, and the stability of emotional and behavioral problems in childhood and adolescents.     

Emotional competence in children with autism: Diagnostic criteria and empirical evidence

The diagnostic criteria of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) include emotional impairments. However, scientific evidence for these impairments is varied and subtle. In this contribution, recent empirical studies that examined the emotional competence in children and adolescents with ASD are reviewed. Four aspects of emotional competence that are important to children’s daily social functioning (expression, perception, responding, and understanding) are discussed, differentiating between mentally retarded and normally intelligent children and adolescents with and without ASD in natural and structured contexts. On various accounts, the emotional impairments of children with ASD that are found in scientific studies provide a more differentiated view on the impairments suggested by the diagnostic literature. Consistent empirical findings and gaps in the field are discussed. Theoretical and clinical recommendations for assessment procedures are suggested.     

Problems, plans, and ambitions of German and foreign adolescents

In the present study, personal and social problems and ambitions of a group of foreign adolescents (Italians, Spaniards, and Greeks) living in Germany were compared with those of a group of German adolescents. Results showed that family and religion play a much more important and fundamental role for foreign adolescents than for Germans. Although parents seem to have the same importance for all adolescents, the emotional life in the families of Italians, Spaniards, and Greeks is much broader than that of Germans: for foreign adolescents, emotional relations with siblings and grandparents also are important. Again, although German and foreign adolescents do not show significant differences in their religious practices (e.g., church attendance), the latter have much deeper religious beliefs. The results are explained in terms of the different sociocultural backgrounds of these groups of adolescents.     

Factors Associated with Psychological Maladjustment of Mexican Adolescents Living in Poverty

The objectives of this study were to test the replicability of the Youth Self-Report structure in Mexican adolescents living in poverty; to determine gender and rurality differences in internalizing and externalizing problems; and to identify predictors of internalizing and externalizing problems. Data were collected from a probabilistic sample of households that are beneficiaries of the Oportunidades program, including the heads of those households, their spouses and their adolescent children. The self-reports of parents and children were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results confirmed the Youth Self-Report structure in Mexican adolescents, and indicated higher levels of emotional disorders in females, higher levels of behavioral disorders in males, and higher levels in all the Youth Self-Report scales in rural adolescents. Internalizing and externalizing problems were mediated by the presence of loneliness, oppositional behavior and stress, through which the model’s other latent variables exerted indirect influence on the determination of youth psychopathology.     

亲子关系和朋友支持对流动儿童情绪和行为适应的保护作用

以1008名初中流动儿童为研究对象,在压力背景下探讨亲子关系和朋友支持对流动儿童不同情绪适应（孤独感、社交焦虑）和行为适应结果（问题行为、亲社会行为）的保护作用,并揭示二者保护作用的适用领域及其差异。结果表明：（1）亲子关系显著预测行为适应,朋友支持显著预测情绪适应和亲社会行为。（2）亲子关系能够缓解压力事件对流动儿童问题行为的消极作用。（3）朋友支持能够缓解压力事件对流动儿童孤独感和社交焦虑的消极作用。（4）尽管亲子关系和朋友支持都能够缓解压力事件对流动儿童亲社会行为的消极作用,但压力事件较少时二者的保护效应更强。这提示流动儿童与父母和朋友的紧密情感联结能够缓解压力事件对其情绪和行为适应的消极作用：父母是缓解行为适应问题的保护因素,朋友是缓解情绪适应问题的保护因素;积极行为适应能够同时获益于父母和朋友支持。     

Response monitoring, the error-related negativity, and differences in social behavior in autism

Children with autism not only display social impairments but also significant individual differences in social development. Understanding the source of these differences, as well as the nature of social impairments, is important for improved diagnosis and treatments for these children. Current theory and research suggests that individual differences in response monitoring, a specific function of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), may contribute to social-emotional and social-cognitive impairments and individual differences in autism. To examine this hypothesis, we used a modified flanker task to assess an ERP index of response monitoring, the error-related negativity (ERN), in a sample of higher function children with autism (HFA) and an IQ-matched control sample. The results revealed a significant Diagnostic group by Verbal IQ interaction on ERN amplitude indicating that the most verbally capable HFA children displayed significantly larger ERN amplitudes than did the control children. Within the HFA sample, greater ERN amplitude was also related to parent reports of fewer symptoms of social interaction impairments, fewer internalizing problems, but more externalizing problems, although these associations were reduced to nonsignificance when medication status was controlled. The latter results complement previous observations from imaging studies of a significant association between ACC activity and social symptoms and impairments in autism. The implications of these results for future research on brain-behavior relations, as well as treatment related research with children with autism are discussed.     

Patterns of Growth in Adaptive Social Abilities Among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Adaptive social skills were assessed longitudinally at approximately ages 2, 3, 5, 9, and 13 years in a sample of 192 children with a clinical diagnosis of autism (n = 93), PDD-NOS (n = 51), or nonspectrum developmental disabilities (n = 46) at age 2. Growth curve analyses with SAS proc mixed were used to analyze social trajectories over time. Both individual characteristics and environmental resources emerged as key predictors of adaptive social behavior outcome. The gap between children with autism and the other two diagnostic groups widened with time as the social skills of the latter groups improved at a higher rate. However, within diagnostic groups, improvement ranged from minimal to very dramatic. Children with autism most at risk for problems with social adaptive abilities later in life can be identified with considerable accuracy at a very young age so they can be targeted for appropriate early intervention services.     

Intact and impaired mechanisms of action understanding in autism

Typically developing children understand and predict others' behavior by extracting and processing relevant information such as the logic of their actions within the situational constraints and the intentions conveyed by their gaze direction and emotional expressions. Children with autism have difficulties understanding and predicting others' actions. With the use of eye tracking and behavioral measures, we investigated action understanding mechanisms used by 18 children with autism and a well-matched group of 18 typically developing children. Results showed that children with autism (a) consider situational constraints in order to understand the logic of an agent's action and (b) show typical usage of the agent's emotional expressions to infer his or her intentions. We found (c) subtle atypicalities in the way children with autism respond to an agent's direct gaze and (d) marked impairments in their ability to attend to and interpret referential cues such as a head turn for understanding an agent's intentions.     

Adolescents' social strategies: patterns and correlates

An unselected sample of adolescents (n= 504) was given a test measuring their social strategies in affiliative context, and emotional and behavioral problems. Four groups of adolescents were identified according to the certain patterns of the social strategies they deployed: Active optimistic group (n= 107), Defensive functional group (n= 159), Avoiders group (n= 89), and Learned helplessness group (n= 140). The degree of stability of a cluster solution was studied when the method for cluster analysis was changed, showing that the four-cluster solution captures the essential relationships between the variables. The membership of the strategy groups was associated in theoretically meaningful ways to the anxiety/depression, withdrawal, and social problems.     

Improving the Social-Behavioral Adjustment of Adolescents: The Effectiveness of a Social Skills Group Intervention

We evaluated the efficacy of a social skills training intervention designed to improve adolescents’ social, emotional and behavioral adjustment, Social Skills Group Intervention-Adolescent (S.S.GRIN-A). Seventy-four adolescents (ages 13–16 years) and their parents were randomly assigned to either the treatment group (N = 40) or a wait-list control group (N = 34). Adolescents in the treatment and control groups were compared on global self-concept, social self-efficacy, internalizing problems, and externalizing problems pre- and post-intervention. Youth in the treatment group demonstrated enhanced global self-concept, increased social self-efficacy, and decreased internalizing problems as compared to youth in the control group. No differences in externalizing behavior were found. We discuss the effectiveness of S.S.GRIN-A as a general program designed for addressing a range of adjustment issues and social skill deficits in adolescents.