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.     

Premarital Sexual Debut in Emerging Adults of South Asian Descent: The Role of Parental Sexual Socialization and Sexual Attitudes

Ethnicity is an important factor in premarital sexual debut as norms regarding appropriate sexual conduct outside of marriage vary considerably across cultures. Emerging adults of South Asian descent living in Western societies are an important demographic group, yet little is known about the factors that contribute to variations in their premarital sexual debut. The goal of this study was to investigate the contributions of parental sexual socialization and attitudes toward premarital sexual behaviors to premarital sexual debut in emerging adults of South Asian descent. University students of South Asian descent (N = 87) aged 18–24 completed a questionnaire containing measures of parental attitudes toward premarital sexual behaviors, their own attitudes toward premarital sexual behaviors, and experience with oral sex and intercourse. Mediation analyses showed that perceptions of mothers’ as more permissive toward premarital sexual behaviors was associated with respondents reporting more permissive attitudes toward premarital sexual behaviors, which in turn was associated with a greater likelihood of having engaged in oral sex and intercourse. No significant effect was found for fathers. These findings suggest that parental sexual socialization may influence emerging adults of South Asian descent’s decision to engage in premarital sexual behaviors through the process of sexual attitudes formation.     

Posttraumatic stress and depression: potential pathways to disease burden among heart failure patients

Background and Objectives: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) are associated with high disease burden. Pathways by which PTSD and MDD contribute to disease burden are not understood. Design: Path analysis was used to examine pathways between PTSD symptoms, MDD symptoms, and disease burden among 251 low-income heart failure patients. Methods: In Model 1, we explored the independent relationship between PTSD and MDD symptoms on disease burden. In Model 2, we examined the association of PTSD symptoms and disease burden on MDD symptoms. We also examined indirect associations of PTSD symptoms on MDD symptoms, mediated by disease burden, and of PTSD symptoms on disease burden mediated by MDD symptoms. Results: Disease burden correlated with PTSD symptoms (r = .41; p < .001) and MDD symptoms (r = .43; p < .001) symptoms. Both models fit the data well and displayed comparable fit. MDD symptoms did not mediate the association of PTSD symptoms with disease burden. Disease burden did mediate the relationship between PTSD symptoms and MDD symptoms. Conclusions: Results support the importance of detection of PTSD in individuals with disease. Results also provide preliminary models for testing longitudinal data in future studies.     

Parallel development of ERP and behavioural measurements of visual segmentation

Visual segmentation, a process in which elements are integrated into a form and segregated from the background, is known to differ from adults at infancy. The further developmental trajectory of this process, and of the underlying brain mechanisms, during childhood and adolescence is unknown. The aim of the study was to investigate the developmental trajectory of ERP reflections of visual segmentation, and to relate this to behavioural performance. One hundred and eleven typically developing children from 7 to 18 years of age were divided into six age groups. Each child performed two visual tasks. In a texture segmentation task, the difference in event‐related potential (ERP) response to homogeneous (no visual segmentation) and checkered stimuli (visual segmentation) was investigated. In addition, behavioural performance on integration of elements into contours was measured. Both behavioural and ERP measurements of visual segmentation differed from adults in 7–12 year‐old children. Behaviourally, young children were less able to integrate elements into a contour than older children. In addition, a developmental change was present in the ERP pattern evoked by homogeneous versus checkered stimuli. The largest differences in behaviour and ERPs were found between 7–8‐ and 9–10‐, and between 11–12‐ and 13–14‐year‐old children, indicating the strongest development between those age groups. Behavioural as well as ERP measurements at 13–14 years of age showed similar results to those of adults. These results reveal that visual segmentation continues to develop until early puberty. Only by 13–14 years of age, children do integrate and segregate visual information as adults do. These results can be interpreted in terms of functional connectivity within the visual cortex.     

Isolation rearing effects on probabilistic learning and cognitive flexibility in rats

Isolation rearing is a neurodevelopmental manipulation that produces neurochemical, structural, and behavioral alterations in rodents that in many ways are consistent with schizophrenia. Symptoms induced by isolation rearing that mirror clinically relevant aspects of schizophrenia, such as cognitive deficits, open up the possibility of testing putative therapeutics in isolation-reared animals prior to clinical development. We investigated what effect isolation rearing would have on cognitive flexibility, a cognitive function characteristically disrupted in schizophrenia. For this purpose, we assessed cognitive flexibility using between- and within-session probabilistic reversal-learning tasks based on clinical tests. Isolation-reared rats required more sessions, though not more task trials, to acquire criterion performance in the reversal phase of the task, and were slower to adjust their task strategy after reward contingencies were switched. Isolation-reared rats also completed fewer trials and exhibited lower levels of overall activity in the probabilistic reversal-learning task than did the socially reared rats. This finding contrasted with the elevated levels of unconditioned investigatory activity and reduced levels of locomotor habituation that isolation-reared rats displayed in the behavioral pattern monitor. Finally, isolation-reared rats also exhibited sensorimotor gating deficits, reflected by decreased prepulse inhibition of the startle response, consistent with previous studies. We concluded that isolation rearing constitutes a valuable, noninvasive manipulation for modeling schizophrenia-like cognitive deficits and assessing putative therapeutics.     

Dynamics of the relationships among work and family resource gain and loss,enrichment, and conflict over time

Dynamics of the relationships among work and family resource gain and loss, work-to-family enrichment (WFE), and work-to-family conflict (WFC) over time were examined using the data collected from 382 employees of Chinese firms at two points of time one year apart. Work resource gain at time 1 weakened the positive relationship between WFC at times 1 and 2, and work resource loss at time 1 weakened the positive relationship between WFE at times 1 and 2. However, WFC at time 1 strengthened the positive relationship between work resource gain at time 1 and family resource gain at time 2. Overall, these results suggest the existence of complementary forces that maintain the status quo of individuals' work–family experiences, such that high losses diminish the transfer of gains and high gains diminish the transfer of losses, but also that unexpected gains may result from individuals having to deal with painful situations. Implications of these dynamics for theory, research, and practice are discussed.     

Mental context reinstatement or drawing: Which better enhances children's recall of witnessed events and protects against suggestive questions?

The aim of this experiment was to examine the effectiveness of two techniques in enhancing children's recall of an event that they experienced approximately a week earlier. Younger (5–6 years) and older (8–9 years) children were interviewed about a magic show event in one of three conditions. Before recalling the event, some children were instructed to mentally reinstate the context of the event (MCR group), others were asked to draw the context of the event (DCR group), and others received no reinstatement instructions (NCR). Results showed that these instructions had no impact on children's free recall or responses to open‐ended prompts. However, reinstatement instructions impacted children's responses to suggestive questions: those in the DCR group gave more accurate responses than those in the NCR group. These findings provide preliminary support for the use of drawing as a potentially protective exercise that lessens the impact of biased questions with child witnesses.     

The Relationship Between Parent and Student Religious Coping and College Alcohol Use

The present study examined social support and alcohol norms as mediators of the relationship between religious coping and college drinking (e.g., frequency and heavy drinking). The sample consisted of college students (n = 129) and their parents (n = 113). Religious coping (parent and student) was associated with less frequent alcohol use and less heavy drinking. Using a path model to test direct and indirect effects, the mediators were entered simultaneously and allowed to correlate with each other. Alcohol norms mediated the relationship between religious coping and drinking outcomes. Social support was not a significant mediator. Broader protective implications of religious coping are discussed.