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Ambrose K, Simpson K, Adams D. Using Q-sort method to explore autistic students' views of the impacts of their anxiety at school. AUTISM : THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND PRACTICE 2024; 28:2462-2477. [PMID: 38390716 DOI: 10.1177/13623613241231607] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/24/2024]
Abstract
LAY ABSTRACT Many autistic students experience anxiety, but there is little research that explores how anxiety might affect autistic students in the school environment. In this study, 45 autistic students, aged 7 to 17 years, completed an online sorting activity to tell us how anxiety impacts them at school. The students were given 21 statements about possible social and academic effects of anxiety (for example, 'When I'm worried it's hard to start my schoolwork' or 'When I'm worried I talk less to my friends or other students'), and sorted them based on how much they agreed each statement was true for them. The three statements most highly rated as being impacted by anxiety were difficulties related to schoolwork. By comparing the information provided by students, six smaller groups of students were identified who sorted the statements in a similar order. These groups show that anxiety affects different autistic students in different ways, including missing school or activities, communicating less with friends and teachers and finding it harder to complete schoolwork. This online sorting activity enabled autistic students themselves to report how anxiety affects them at school. The results suggest that it is important to provide individualised support for autistic students who experience anxiety at school, to reduce the impact of their anxiety on their participation, communication and interactions, and schoolwork. Further research about the effects of anxiety on the academic outcomes of autistic students is also needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathryn Ambrose
- Griffith University, Australia
- The Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC), Australia
| | - Kate Simpson
- Griffith University, Australia
- The Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC), Australia
| | - Dawn Adams
- Griffith University, Australia
- The Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC), Australia
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He X, Yang Y, Zhou S, Wei Q, Zhou H, Tao J, Yang G, You M. Alterations in microbiota-metabolism-circRNA crosstalk in autism spectrum disorder-like behaviours caused by maternal exposure to glyphosate-based herbicides in mice. ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY 2024; 285:117060. [PMID: 39299209 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2024.117060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2024] [Revised: 09/12/2024] [Accepted: 09/14/2024] [Indexed: 09/22/2024]
Abstract
Epidemiological evidence indicates exposure to glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs) increases the risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The gut microbiota has been found to influence ASD behaviours through the microbiota-gut-brain axis. However, the underlying links between early life GBH exposure and ASD-like phenotypes through the microbiota-gut-brain axis remain unclear. Therefore, we exposed mice to low-dose GBH (0.10, 0.25, 0.50, and 1.00 %) and determined the effects on ASD-like behaviours. Furthermore, three kinds of omics (gut microbiomics, metabolomics, and transcriptomics) were conducted to investigate the effects of GBH exposure on gut microbiota, gut metabolites, and circular RNAs (circRNAs) in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) using a cross-generational mouse model. Behavioural analyses suggested social impairment and repetitive/stereotypic behaviours in the GBH-exposed offspring. Furthermore, maternal exposure to glyphosate significantly altered the ASD-associated gut microbiota of offspring, and ASD-associated gut metabolites were identified. Specifically, we found that alterations in the gut microenvironment may contribute to changes in gut permeability and the blood-brain barrier, which are related to changes in the levels of circRNAs in the PFC. Our results suggest a potential effect of circRNAs through the disruption of the gut-brain interaction, which is an important factor in the pathogenesis of ASD in offspring induced by maternal exposure to GBH.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiu He
- School of Public Health, the Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Monitoring and Disease Control, Ministry of Education, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, Guizhou 561113, China
| | - Yongyong Yang
- School of Public Health, the Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Monitoring and Disease Control, Ministry of Education, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, Guizhou 561113, China; Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, Guizhou 561113, China
| | - Shun Zhou
- School of Public Health, the Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Monitoring and Disease Control, Ministry of Education, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, Guizhou 561113, China; Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, Guizhou 561113, China
| | - Qinghao Wei
- School of Public Health, the Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Monitoring and Disease Control, Ministry of Education, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, Guizhou 561113, China; Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, Guizhou 561113, China
| | - Hao Zhou
- Department of Developmental Behavioural Pediatrics, Guizhou Provincial People's Hospital, Guiyang, Guizhou 550002, China
| | - Junyan Tao
- Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, Guizhou 561113, China
| | - Guanghong Yang
- School of Public Health, the Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Monitoring and Disease Control, Ministry of Education, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, Guizhou 561113, China; Guizhou Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Guiyang, Guizhou 550004, China.
| | - Mingdan You
- School of Public Health, the Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Monitoring and Disease Control, Ministry of Education, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, Guizhou 561113, China; Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, Guizhou 561113, China.
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Beaurenaut M, Kovarski K, Destais C, Mennella R, Grèzes J. Spontaneous instrumental approach-avoidance learning in social contexts in autism. Mol Autism 2024; 15:33. [PMID: 39085896 PMCID: PMC11293119 DOI: 10.1186/s13229-024-00610-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2023] [Accepted: 07/17/2024] [Indexed: 08/02/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Individuals with Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) are characterized by atypicalities in social interactions, compared to Typically Developing individuals (TD). The social motivation theory posits that these difficulties stem from diminished anticipation, reception, and/or learning from social rewards. Although learning from socioemotional outcomes is core to the theory, studies to date have been sparse and inconsistent. This possibly arises from a combination of theoretical, methodological and sample-related issues. Here, we assessed participants' ability to develop a spontaneous preference for actions that lead to desirable socioemotional outcomes (approaching/avoiding of happy/angry individuals, respectively), in an ecologically valid social scenario. We expected that learning abilities would be impaired in ASC individuals, particularly in response to affiliative social feedback. METHOD We ran an online social reinforcement learning task, on two large online cohorts with (n = 274) and without (n = 290) ASC, matched for gender, age and education. Participants had to indicate where they would sit in a waiting room. Each seat was associated with different probabilities of approaching/avoiding emotional individuals. Importantly, the task was implicit, as participants were not instructed to learn, and emotional expressions were never mentioned. We applied both categorical analyses contrasting the ASC and TD groups and dimensional factor analysis on affective questionnaires. RESULTS Contrary to our hypothesis, participants showed spontaneous learning from socioemotional outcomes, regardless of their diagnostic group. Yet, when accounting for dimensional variations in autistic traits, as well as depression and anxiety, two main findings emerged among females who failed to develop explicit learning strategies: (1) autism severity in ASC correlated with reduced learning to approach happy individuals; (2) anxiety-depression severity across both ASC and TD participants correlated with reduced learning to approach/avoid happy/angry individuals, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Implicit spontaneous learning from socioemotional outcomes is not generally impaired in autism but may be specifically associated with autism severity in females with ASC, when they do not have an explicit strategy for adapting to their social environment. Clinical diagnosis and intervention ought to take into account individual differences in their full complexity, including the presence of co-morbid anxiety and depression, when dealing with social atypicalities in autism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morgan Beaurenaut
- Laboratoire sur les Interactions Cognition, Action, Émotion (LICAÉ), Université Paris Nanterre, 200 avenue de La République, Nanterre Cedex, 92001, France.
| | - Klara Kovarski
- Sorbonne Université, INSPE, Paris, France
- Laboratoire de Psychologie du Développement et de l'Éducation de l'enfant (LaPsyDÉ), Université Paris Cité, CNRS, 46 rue Saint-Jacques, Paris, 75005, France
| | - Constance Destais
- Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience Laboratory (LNC2), Inserm U960, Department of Cognitive Studies, École Normale Supérieure, PSL University, 29 rue d'Ulm, Paris, 75005, France
| | - Rocco Mennella
- Laboratoire sur les Interactions Cognition, Action, Émotion (LICAÉ), Université Paris Nanterre, 200 avenue de La République, Nanterre Cedex, 92001, France
- Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience Laboratory (LNC2), Inserm U960, Department of Cognitive Studies, École Normale Supérieure, PSL University, 29 rue d'Ulm, Paris, 75005, France
| | - Julie Grèzes
- Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience Laboratory (LNC2), Inserm U960, Department of Cognitive Studies, École Normale Supérieure, PSL University, 29 rue d'Ulm, Paris, 75005, France.
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Ostrowski J, Religioni U, Gellert B, Sytnik-Czetwertyński J, Pinkas J. Autism Spectrum Disorders: Etiology, Epidemiology, and Challenges for Public Health. Med Sci Monit 2024; 30:e944161. [PMID: 38833427 PMCID: PMC11162141 DOI: 10.12659/msm.944161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2024] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 06/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a growing public health problem. American psychiatrist Leo Kanner is considered the "father of autism." ASD encompasses a range of neurodevelopmental disorders that last throughout life. Symptoms of ASD include impairments in social skills, including specific repetitive behaviors, as well as abnormal sensory responses. The clinical symptoms of ASD vary among patients. Their severity also differs, both in the area of social communication and cognitive functioning. The etiology of ASD is still unclear, although a role is attributed to both genetic and environmental factors. According to the World Health Organization, 1/100 children have ASD, but these estimates vary depending on the methodology used. Nevertheless, early detection of ASD and initiation of appropriate therapy may be essential in the continued functioning of patients and their families. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of current knowledge about autism spectrum disorders. We discuss factors associated with autism and the prevalence of ASD in various parts of the world, and identify the most common diseases comorbid with ASD, pointing to limitations in the quality of life of patients with ASD and their families.
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Narzisi A, Sesso G, Fabbri-Destro M, Berloffa S, Fantozzi P, Muccio R, Bruzzi G, Scatigna S, Valente E, Viglione V, Milone A, Cortese S, Masi G. Social Skills Interventions for Adolescents with Level 1 Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. CLINICAL NEUROPSYCHIATRY 2024; 21:169-181. [PMID: 38988677 PMCID: PMC11231730 DOI: 10.36131/cnfioritieditore20240302] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/12/2024]
Abstract
Objective Evidence on the efficacy of social skills training for adolescents with Level 1 Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is unclear. Method We searched Pubmed, Scopus, and Web of Science until July 27th, 2023, for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of social skills training for pre-adolescents and adolescents (aged 9-18) with Level 1 ASD. We then pooled data on efficacy from individual RCTs by conducting multivariate mixed-effects meta-analyses in R. We estimated possible bias in the retained RCTs using the RoB2 tool. Results We retained 36 RCTs (encompassing 2796 participants), including 18 RCTs comparing an experimental treatment to a waiting list, and 18 RCTs comparing it to standard care/control treatment. Meta-analyses showed that experimental treatments were significantly more efficacious than waiting list or standard care/ control treatments in improving social skills (SMD = 0.3745; 95%CI = [0.2396; 0.5093]), as well as reducing behavioral symptoms (0.3154;0.1783, 0.4525) and anxious/depressive symptoms (0.2780; 0.0432, 0.5128). However, for some outcomes there was significant heterogeneity across studies and evidence of publication bias. Subgroup analyses and meta-regressions did not identify any specific clinical or demographic factors as significant predictors of outcome. The most common risk of bias across studies was related to deviations from intended interventions and measurement of the outcomes. Conclusions At the group level, social skills training for adolescents with Level 1 ASD is efficacious, with small-to-moderate effect size. Future research should focus on personalized medicine approaches, aimed at tailoring interventions to specific characteristics of adolescents with Level 1 ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Narzisi
- Department of Child Psychiatry and Psychopharmacology, IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, 56128 Pisa, Italy
| | - Gianluca Sesso
- Department of Child Psychiatry and Psychopharmacology, IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, 56128 Pisa, Italy
- Social and Affective Neuroscience (SANe) Group, Molecular Mind Lab, IMT School for Advanced Studies of Lucca, Lucca, Italy
| | | | - Stefano Berloffa
- Department of Child Psychiatry and Psychopharmacology, IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, 56128 Pisa, Italy
| | - Pamela Fantozzi
- Department of Child Psychiatry and Psychopharmacology, IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, 56128 Pisa, Italy
| | - Rosy Muccio
- Department of Child Psychiatry and Psychopharmacology, IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, 56128 Pisa, Italy
| | - Gianina Bruzzi
- Department of Child Psychiatry and Psychopharmacology, IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, 56128 Pisa, Italy
| | - Stefano Scatigna
- Department of Child Psychiatry and Psychopharmacology, IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, 56128 Pisa, Italy
| | - Elena Valente
- Department of Child Psychiatry and Psychopharmacology, IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, 56128 Pisa, Italy
| | - Valentina Viglione
- Department of Child Psychiatry and Psychopharmacology, IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, 56128 Pisa, Italy
| | - Annarita Milone
- Department of Child Psychiatry and Psychopharmacology, IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, 56128 Pisa, Italy
| | - Samuele Cortese
- Centre for Innovation in Mental Health (CIMH), School of Psychology, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
- Solent NHS Trust, Southampton, UK
- Clinical and Experimental Sciences (CNS and Psychiatry), Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
- Hassenfeld Children's Hospital at NYU Langone, New York University Child Study Center, New York, USA
- DiMePRe-J-Department of Precision and Rigenerative Medicine-Jonic Area, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy
| | - Gabriele Masi
- Department of Child Psychiatry and Psychopharmacology, IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, 56128 Pisa, Italy
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