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Omiya T, Deguchi NK, Asakura T. A Sense of Belonging and Help Seeking: Examining Factors Related to the Mental Health of High School Students with High Autistic Traits without Diagnosis. CHILDREN (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 10:1927. [PMID: 38136129 PMCID: PMC10742478 DOI: 10.3390/children10121927] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2023] [Revised: 12/01/2023] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023]
Abstract
Certain individuals are clinically undiagnosed for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) but exhibit strong ASD characteristics. This study examined the differences between a control group and a "high autistic traits" group involving individuals who scored 9 or higher on the Autism-Spectrum Quotient-16 Japanese Version, based on their sense of belonging, help-seeking style, and relationship with mental health. The participants were 608 Japanese public high school students. Of them, 129 (21.2%) and 479 (78.8%) were in the high autistic traits and control groups, respectively. A multiple regression analysis was performed using the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) as the dependent variable for the groups. The analysis revealed no differences between the two groups regarding grade, gender, physical illness, insomnia, or mental health status; however, they differed regarding avoidant help-seeking style and teacher acceptance. Moreover, avoidant help-seeking scores in the high autistic traits group and teacher acceptance showed a significantly positive and significantly negative association with GHQ, respectively. The results indicated that children with autistic traits internally suppress them, experiencing distress. Teachers are aware that these students seek support from them, but the students seem reluctant to ask them for help. This can negatively impact the mental health of children with high autistic traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomoko Omiya
- Public Health Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba 305-8575, Japan
| | | | - Takashi Asakura
- Laboratory of Health and Social Behavior, Tokyo Gakugei University, Koganei 184-8501, Japan;
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Costanzo V, Narzisi A, Cerullo S, Crifaci G, Boncoddo M, Turi M, Apicella F, Tancredi R, Muratori F, Calderoni S, Billeci L. High-Risk Siblings without Autism: Insights from a Clinical and Eye-Tracking Study. J Pers Med 2022; 12:jpm12111789. [PMID: 36573785 PMCID: PMC9699372 DOI: 10.3390/jpm12111789] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2022] [Revised: 10/20/2022] [Accepted: 10/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Joint attention (JA)-the human ability to coordinate our attention with that of other people-is impaired in the early stage of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, little is known about the JA skills in the younger siblings of children with ASD who do not develop ASD at 36 months of age [high-risk (HR)-noASD]. In order to advance our understanding of this topic, a prospective multicenter observational study was conducted with three groups of toddlers (age range: 18-33 months): 17 with ASD, 19 with HR-noASD and 16 with typical development (TD). All subjects underwent a comprehensive clinical assessment and an eye-tracking experiment with pre-recorded stimuli in which the visual patterns during two tasks eliciting initiating joint attention (IJA) were measured. Specifically, fixations, transitions and alternating gaze were analyzed. Clinical evaluation revealed that HR-noASD subjects had lower non-verbal cognitive skills than TD children, while similar levels of restricted and repetitive behaviors and better social communication skills were detected in comparison with ASD children. Eye-tracking paradigms indicated that HR-noASD toddlers had visual patterns resembling TD in terms of target-object-to-face gaze alternations, while their looking behaviors were similar to ASD toddlers regarding not-target-object-to-face gaze alternations. This study indicated that high-risk, unaffected siblings displayed a shared profile of IJA-eye-tracking measures with both ASD patients and TD controls, providing new insights into the characterization of social attention in this group of toddlers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valeria Costanzo
- Department of Developmental Neuroscience, IRCCS Fondazione Stella Maris, 56128 Calambrone, Italy
| | - Antonio Narzisi
- Department of Developmental Neuroscience, IRCCS Fondazione Stella Maris, 56128 Calambrone, Italy
| | - Sonia Cerullo
- Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute IRCCS Eugenio Medea, Via Don Luigi Monza 20, Bosisio Parini, 22040 Lecco, Italy
| | - Giulia Crifaci
- Institute of Clinical Physiology, National Research Council of Italy (CNR), 56124 Pisa, Italy
| | - Maria Boncoddo
- Interdepartmental Program “Autism 0-90”, “G. Martino” University Hospital of Messina, 98100 Messina, Italy
| | - Marco Turi
- Stella Maris Mediterraneo Foundation, 85032 Chiaromonte, Italy
| | - Fabio Apicella
- Department of Developmental Neuroscience, IRCCS Fondazione Stella Maris, 56128 Calambrone, Italy
| | - Raffaella Tancredi
- Department of Developmental Neuroscience, IRCCS Fondazione Stella Maris, 56128 Calambrone, Italy
| | - Filippo Muratori
- Department of Developmental Neuroscience, IRCCS Fondazione Stella Maris, 56128 Calambrone, Italy
| | - Sara Calderoni
- Department of Developmental Neuroscience, IRCCS Fondazione Stella Maris, 56128 Calambrone, Italy
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy
- Correspondence: ; Tel./Fax: +39-050-886200
| | - Lucia Billeci
- Institute of Clinical Physiology, National Research Council of Italy (CNR), 56124 Pisa, Italy
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