The Application of Adaptive Behaviour Models: A Systematic Review

Adaptive behavior and mastery motivation in children with physical disabilities

BACKGROUND

Adaptive behavior consists of conceptual, social, and practical skills and describes the ability of individuals to manage environmental demands, interact with others, and engage in activities to meet ones needs. Mastery motivation is an intrinsic characteristic that enables persistence when attempting to master a skill. Children with physical disabilities often demonstrate less effective adaptive behaviors and lower mastery motivation than their peers without disabilities, which may subsequently impact development and participation in daily activities. Therefore, it may be beneficial for pediatric rehabilitation practitioners to focus intentionally on facilitating effective adaptive behaviors in children with physical disabilities as they aim to support child development and function.

OBJECTIVE

This perspective paper highlights the importance of adaptive behavior for children with physical disabilities, discusses methods of assessment, and illustrates intervention principles and strategies to support the development of appropriate adaptive behaviors across childhood. Key intervention principles include: 1) engage children and address motivation; 2) collaborate with others; 3) support real-life meaningful experiences; 4) scaffold the just-right challenge; and 5) guide children in discovering solutions.

Assessment of adaptive behavior in people with intellectual disabilities: Design and development of a new test battery

Background

Adaptive behavior is an important characteristic of people with intellectual disabilities, and it has been associated with a person's performance in social and work contexts. Indeed, adaptive behavior denotes what a person does independently, without help, support, reminders, or prompts. In Peru, available measures of adaptive behavior are commercial; thus, there is a need for an open-access tool to assess the adaptive behavior of people with intellectual disabilities. For this reason, the aim of the study was to design and develop a new Adaptive Behavior Test Battery for people from 13 to 60 years old with intellectual disabilities who have an interest in being part of the economically active population.

Methods

A cross-sectional design was defined, starting with a qualitative approach to designing and constructing the item pool for the test battery. Then, quantitative indexes Aiken's V for content validity and Krippendorff's alpha for inter-observer reliability were estimated, resulting in a first version of the three subscales that comprised the test battery. The initial versions were tested on a sample of 566 persons with intellectual disabilities from two regions of Peru: Lima (Coast) and San Martín (Jungle). The internal structure was analyzed under a factor analysis approach, along with internal consistency measures of reliability. Further analyses of invariance regarding gender, region, and age were carried out.

Results

Three observer subscales were proposed: Daily living activities (11 items), Instrumental skills (4 items), and Communication (9 items). All subscales showed excellent psychometric properties denoted by the Aiken's V coefficient, Krippendorff's alpha, factor analysis, internal consistency analysis, and invariance analyses.

Conclusion

The developed a new Adaptive Behavior Test Battery is a useful tool for the measurement of adaptive behavior and the monitoring of social and labor inclusion programs for people with intellectual disabilities.

A Tailored Approach for Justice Involved Youth With an Intellectual Disability: The Suitability of a Small-Scale Community-Integrated Approach

Youngsters with intellectual disabilities are overinvolved within the youth justice system. The aim of this study was to explore the suitability of a small-scale community-integrated approach for justice involved youngsters with intellectual disabilities. This study compared the numbers of transfers, the number, type, and rate of change in incidents, and the possible mediating effect of resilience thereon, between 40 youngsters with and 19 youngsters without intellectual disabilities, placed in a small-scale facility. There were no differences in the number of transfers, the number, type, and rate of change in incidents, and no mediating effect of resilience was found. A small-scale community integrated approach for youth justice facilities can be suited to provide tailored placement for youngsters with intellectual disabilities, given the presence of protective factors and motivation. Both youngsters with and without intellectual disabilities showed a low number of incidents and were able to continue or initiate structural daytime activities.

Assessing functioning for individuals with neurodevelopmental conditions: Current clinical practice in Australia

BACKGROUND

In the disability sector globally, and specifically in Australia, assessments of functioning have become key to diagnostic processes, and accessing therapy and funding. Over half of all individuals accessing support through Australia's National Disability Insurance Scheme have a neurodevelopmental condition diagnosis. Little is known about assessments of functioning for this population.

METHODS

A mixed methods online survey was designed to understand the current assessment of functioning practices (including clinical contexts, concepts being assessed, and assessment methods) and barriers and facilitators to clinicians using best practice. Results were analysed descriptively, and differences between professions calculated where possible. Content analysis was used to explore qualitative comments.

RESULTS

Clinicians from various medical and allied health backgrounds completed the survey (n = 93), with varying ranges of age, experience, and education. Clinicians reported that they assessed functioning across age, setting, sector, funding body, and individuals with a wide variety of diagnoses. Missing from current practice is a clear transdisciplinary conceptualisation of functioning. The largest barriers to best practice were limited time, large caseloads, availability of appropriate tools, and lack of clarity from funding bodies.

CONCLUSIONS

Missing from current practice is a clear transdisciplinary conceptualisation of functioning.These results will help inform steps forward to improve assessment of functioning practices to ensure that all individuals receive appropriate and sufficient support.

Predictors of Social-Emotional Development and Adaptive Functioning in School-Age Children with Intestinal Failure

OBJECTIVES

Despite a focus on neurocognition in pediatric intestinal failure (IF) to date, we examined social-emotional and adaptive functioning.

METHODS

Children (N = 63) in our IF rehabilitation program underwent neuropsychological assessments including caregiver- and teacher-reported questionnaires. Results were compared to norms using z-tests. Caregiver and teacher reports were compared using t tests. Medical and demographic factors were examined in an exploratory manner using correlation and targeted regression analyses, adjusting for gestational age and full-scale IQ.

RESULTS

Caregiver and teacher reports indicated poorer executive, internalizing, behavioral, and adaptive functioning compared to norms. Teachers reported more executive dysfunctions than caregivers. Necrotizing enterocolitis diagnosis predicted internalizing emotional problems. Immigrant status predicted poorer social and practical adaptive functioning. Living with biological parents predicted fewer externalizing emotional and behavioral problems.

CONCLUSIONS

The group displayed social-emotional and adaptive functioning concerns. Identifying medical and demographic risks can allow for screening and intervention.

Assessment of Adaptive Behavior in People with Autism Spectrum Disorders through the ICAP

Evaluating adaptive behavior in people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) requires attending to a set of cognitive processes associated with social interaction skills and functional communication that are altered. This paper presents the analysis of an instrument to assess and diagnose adaptive behavior in people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), given the need for rigorous, standardized, and statistically reliable tools to address this dimension, incorporated into the diagnosis since 1992. The Inventory for Service Planning and Individual Programming (ICAP) was applied to n = 209 children with ASD. Its psychometric properties were studied to provide statistical criteria for its usefulness in assessing adaptive behavior. Results highlighted variations in its original structure, reducing the number of items from 77 to 60 by eliminating those with little discriminative power, and of dimensions from four to three given their greater congruence with the results of the exploratory analysis: daily life skills (α = 0.892–0.935), communication and linguistic skills (α = 0.860–0.931), and motor skills (α = 0.828–0.857). This again raises questions about the use of instruments similar in their dimensions, and about the interaction between variables and items, a frequent issue in the field of mind, social, and health sciences.

Adaptive behavior in stroke survivors: A concept analysis

PURPOSE

This study aims to explore a clear and evidence-based definition of adaptive behavior in stroke survivors and establish the antecedents, attributes, consequences, and empirical referents of the concept.

METHODS

The concept analysis was performed using the Walker and Avant methods as a framework. Data from 90 publications were collected using various databases (PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, RISS, and KISS) and applied in the analysis.

RESULTS

Adaptive behavior in stroke survivors was defined according to four attributes: realizing change, taking an optimistic view, restructuring daily activities to suit oneself, and carrying out one's own daily life. The conceptual structure of their adaptive behavior comprised stroke onset, functional changes, and emotional liability as antecedents and autonomy, family equilibrium, and quality of life as consequences.

CONCLUSIONS

Clarifying the concept of adaptive behavior in stroke survivors provides an understanding of the underlying attributes of this concept. Furthermore, it will facilitate the development of scales to measure the concept and the application of a theory-based intervention program that can improve adaptive behavior.

Content validation of common measures of functioning for young children against the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health and Code and Core Sets relevant to neurodevelopmental conditions

LAY ABSTRACT

Young children who have developmental delay, autism, or other neurodevelopmental conditions can have difficulties doing things in different areas of their life. What they can and cannot do is called their level of functioning. There are lots of assessment measures that aim to assess functioning. But, we are not sure if these measures assess all the things we need to know about these children's functioning. Other research has identified lists of items (codes) that need to be assessed to understand functioning for young children with different neurodevelopmental conditions fully. These lists include body functions (the things a child's body or brain can do), activities and participation (the activities and tasks a child does) and environmental factors (parts of the environment that can influence functioning). In this study, we looked at the items from these lists assessed by different functioning measures to see how they compared to what should be assessed. The measures that we looked at covered 21%-57% of all the codes and 19%-63% of the codes for lists specific to different conditions. Most of the measures focused on activity and participation codes, and they rarely assessed environmental factors. Knowing which codes and how much of the lists the measures assess can help researchers, clinicians and policymakers to choose measures that are more appropriate for young children with neurodevelopmental conditions.

Trajectories of Adaptive Behaviors During Childhood in Females and Males in the General Population

Little is known about the trajectory patterns and sex differences in adaptive behaviors in the general population. We examined the trajectory classes of adaptive behaviors using a representative sample and examined whether the class structure and trajectory patterns differed between females and males. We further explored sex differences in neurodevelopmental traits in each latent class. Participants (n = 994) were children in the Hamamatsu Birth Cohort for Mothers and Children (HBC Study)-a prospective birth cohort study. Adaptive behaviors in each domain of communication, daily living skills, and socialization were evaluated at five time points when participants were 2.7, 3.5, 4.5, 6, and 9 years old using the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-Second Edition. Parallel process multigroup latent class growth analysis extracted sex-specific trajectory classes. Neurodevelopmental traits of children at age 9, autistic traits, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) traits, and cognitive ability were examined for females and males in each identified class. A 4-class model demonstrated the best fit. Moreover, a 4-class model that allowed for differences in class probabilities and means of growth parameters between females and males provided a better fit than a model assuming no sex differences. In the communication domain, females scored higher than their male counterparts in all four classes. In the daily living skills and socialization domains, the two higher adaptive classes (Class 1: females, 18.6%; males, 17.8%; Class 2: females, 48.8%; males, 49.8%) had similar trajectories for males and females, whereas in the two lower adaptive behavior classes (Class 3: females, 27.5%; males, 29.4%; Class 4: females, 5.1%; males, 3.0%), females had higher adaptive scores than their male counterparts. In Class 4, females were more likely to have autistic and ADHD traits exceeding the cutoffs, while males were more likely to have below-average IQ. Different trajectories in females and males suggest that adaptive skills may require adjustment based on the sex of the child, when standardizing scores, in order to achieve better early detection of skill impairment.

Mental health and adaptive functioning among school-aged children living with HIV in Zambia

BACKGROUND

The number of children living with HIV (CLWHIV) has been increasing, reflected by lower mortality. However, this change is coupled with higher rates of morbidity, where CLWHIV face considerable challenges, including neurocognitive delays and mental health and behavioral functioning challenges. Despite Sub-Sahara accounting for the highest number of CLWHIV, there is still limited research on the effects of HIV on child mental health and adaptive functioning.

METHOD

Mental health and adaptive functioning were assessed in 120 children. The sample included 62 CLWHIV and 58 demographically-matched HIV-uninfected children aged 6-12 years. Mental health was assessed using the Connors, while adaptive functioning was assessed using the Vineland Adaptive Behavioral Scale (VABS).

RESULTS

Scores obtained were within average ranges for mental health (T-score 40-59) and adaptive functioning standard scores (70-115). However, CLWHIV had significantly higher mental health problems than uninfected children in executive functioning and aggressiveness (p < 0.05). CLWHIV had lower adaptive functioning scores on the VABS Communication domain although these differences were not significant. In the Daily Living Skills domain, CLWHIV had significantly higher scores than the HIV-uninfected children (p < 0.05). There were no significant differences in the Socialization subdomain. Furthermore, CLWHIV had significantly higher scores on the Maladaptive Behavior scales of the VABS' internalizing and externalizing subdomains.

CONCLUSION

Challenges to mental health and adaptive functioning are still pervasive among CLWHIV. These findings support the need to develop support mechanisms for CLWHIV to help address mental health and adaptive functioning problems, especially as they progress into adolescence.

Cognitive, social, and behavioral manifestations of the co-occurrence of autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A systematic review

LAY ABSTRACT

This work aimed to review recent research on the characteristics of individuals who have both autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder due to their high co-occurrence. Thirty-four studies were analyzed and main findings summarized in two content domains focusing on areas that could enhance our understanding of the cognitive and behavioral characteristics of individuals with autism spectrum disorder + attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ASD+). Most of the results suggested that ASD+ is a co-occurring condition associated with more severe impairments in cognitive functioning, adaptive behavior, and increased likelihood to present more emotional/behavioral problems. These results will be helpful to provide improved care plans for individuals with both attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder.

Bayonet-shaped language development in autism with regression: a retrospective study

Background

Language delay is one of the major referral criteria for an autism evaluation. Once an autism spectrum diagnosis is established, the language prognosis is among the main parental concerns. Early language regression (ELR) is observed by 10–50% of parents but its relevance to late language level and socio-communicative ability is uncertain. This study aimed to establish the predictive value of ELR on the progression of language development and socio-communicative outcomes to guide clinicians in addressing parents’ concerns at the time of diagnosis.

Methods

We used socio-communicative, language, and cognitive data of 2,047 autism spectrum participants from the Simons Simplex Collection, aged 4–18 years (mean = 9 years; SD = 3.6). Cox proportional hazard and logistic regression models were used to evaluate the effect of ELR on language milestones and the probability of using complex and flexible language, as defined by the choice of ADOS module at enrollment. Linear models were then used to evaluate the relationship of ELR and non-verbal IQ with socio-communicative and language levels.

Results

ELR is associated with earlier language milestones but delayed attainment of fluent, complex, and flexible language. However, this language outcome can be expected for almost all autistic children without intellectual disability at 18 years of age. It is mostly influenced by non-verbal IQ, not ELR. The language and socio-communicative level of participants with flexible language, as measured by the Vineland and ADOS socio-communicative subscales, was not affected by ELR.

Limitations

This study is based on a relatively coarse measure of ultimate language level and relies on retrospective reporting of early language milestones and ELR. It does not prospectively document the age at which language catches up, the relationship between ELR and other behavioral areas of regression, nor the effects of intervention.

Conclusions

For autistic individuals with ELR and a normal level of non-verbal intelligence, language development follows a “bayonet shape” trajectory: early first words followed by regression, a plateau with limited progress, and then language catch up.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13229-021-00444-8.

Association between prenatal and perinatal factors and the severity of clinical presentation of children with ASD: Report from the ELENA COHORT

Many studies have suggested that prenatal and perinatal factors increase the risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, few reports have addressed the question of their influence on the severity of the clinical presentation of children with ASD. Our objective was to determine the prenatal and perinatal factors that are associated with the severity of autistic symptoms and intellectual and adaptive functioning deficits. Data were collected from a subset of 169 children with a confirmed diagnosis of ASD, recruited from the ELENA cohort. A risk of premature delivery was associated, with an increased risk for severe autistic symptoms and placental pathologies and birth complications were associated with an increased risk of communication adaptive deficits, in multivariate analysis. Our results highlight the importance of systematic screening for these pre/perinatal factors, especially in mothers at risk of having a child with ASD.

Vineland-3 Structural Validity and Interpretability of Domain Scores: Implications for Practitioners Assessing Adolescents With Developmental Conditions

The Vineland-3 purports to measure three dimensions of adaptive behavior, but empirical evidence pertaining to its structural validity is lacking. In this study, factor analyses were conducted on the standardization sample data for the comprehensive forms within the 11- to 20-year-old age range. Results did not support the three domain structure of the test and indicated domain scores did not add additional information about an individual's adaptive performance that was not already accounted for by the Adaptive Behavior Composite (ABC) score alone. Practitioners assessing adolescents with developmental conditions should consider using the ABC score within a multimethod assessment protocol for the various purposes of adaptive behavior assessment including the identification of intellectual disability.

Patient and Clinician Satisfaction With Shared Medical Appointments for Glaucoma

Shared Medical Appointments (SMAs) are patient-centered care tools designed to administer patient counseling and education, typically delivered individually, in a group setting. SMAs are effective in facilitating peer-learning, resulting in improvement in knowledge and health behavior. This study aimed to implement what we know of as the first ophthalmology SMA done in the United States. We evaluated the implementation feasibility, patient and provider experience, changes in patient knowledge, and provider stress. Five glaucoma patients who expressed issues with adherence during their clinic visit at Boston Medical Center (BMC) who were interested in the SMA were recruited. Patients and staff had a positive experience with the SMA. There was a marked increase in patient glaucoma knowledge and a decrease in average staff member stress level score during the SMA. From all standpoints, including billing and management, we conclude that SMA implementation is feasible in ophthalmology departments in academic settings.

Validation of a Self-Perceived Adaptive Behaviors Scale in Older Chilean Women and Percentiles for Evaluation

Healthy ageing means optimizing opportunities that allow older individuals to participate actively in society without discrimination. Learning adaptive behaviors (AB) may be extremely important for individuals for all stages of life. The goal of this study was: (a) to create a scale for self-perceived adaptive behavior, and (b) propose percentiles for evaluating AB in older adult women. A self-perception scale was created to measure adaptive behavior. Anthropometric and physical fitness variables for 192 older Chilean women (ages 60 to 88) were collected and evaluated. Content validity reflected agreement from 0.75 to 1.0. Construct validity carried out with exploratory factor analysis (EFA) resulted in 11 dimensions with 62 items in groups. Saturation oscillated between 0.62 and 0.85 with the explanation of variation as 46.27%. Cronbach’s Alpha was r = 0.83. The results indicated that the scale developed was valid and reliable for the Chilean women studied. This scale may be used to measure self-perception of AB patterns in older women. Furthermore, the percentiles allow for classification of the AB by age and anthropometric indices.

Adaptive skills and mental health in children and adolescents with neuromuscular diseases

BACKGROUND

Adaptive skills represent the ways that children and adolescents meet their basic needs for self-care, decision making, communication, and learning in their daily life. Having a neuromuscular disease (NMD) not only presents mental health issues, but also impacts these skills.

AIMS

Our study aimed to compare the adaptive skills and mental health of paediatric patients with the most common NMDs with their healthy peers and assess how NMDs shape the way patients form relationships with others, engage in leisure activities and take care of their daily living needs.

METHODS

We used the Adaptive Behaviour Assessment System (ABAS-3) and Achenbach Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) to compare the adaptive skills and mental health symptoms of 50 NMD patients to a demographically-matched control group of 298 peers. We examined specific outcomes of having myotonic dystrophy (DM), Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD), spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) or a mixed group of other NMDs.

RESULTS

All NMD patients displayed poor practical adaptive skills. When the disease was more likely to involve the central nervous system (DM, DMD) they also showed additional deficits in their conceptual and social skills. Contrary to previous research no increased rate of psychopathological symptoms was found in NMD patients, with the exception of difficulties in the social domain among patients with DM.

CONCLUSIONS

Although most children with NMDs displayed more limited practical skills, the specific profile of adaptive skills for each patient group needs to be taken into consideration when planning school support and other psychosocial interventions.

Exploring the vividness of mental imagery and eidetic imagery in people with intellectual disability (ID) in comparison with typically developing (TD) individuals

Background

Mental imagery (MI) has been described as the “ability to simulate in the mind information that is not currently being perceived by the sense organs” (Moran, 2012, p. 166). The vividness of mental imagery has been defined as the clarity, brightness, or intensity of an image as reported by the individual (Marks, 1973). There are many studies conducted on vividness in typically developing (TD) individuals, however, no attempt has been made either to assess the vividness of mental imagery in people with intellectual disability (ID) or compare it with that of typically developing (TD) adults.

Metods

A vividness of imagery test (comprising a modified version of the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire 2, (VVIQ-2; Marks, 1995), and two items of the Age Projection Test, (APT; Ahsen, 1988) were administered to participants with mild, moderate, and severe ID. Their performance on the vividness scale was compared with typically developing individuals. Measures for cognitive and adaptive functioning were administered to ascertain the ID level of participants.

Results

The results of this study reveal a non-significant group difference between people with mild ID, moderate ID, and TD on the vividness of mental imagery and eidetic imagery. People with severe ID performed significantly lower than the other three groups.

Conclusion

Despite their cognitive impairment, a non-significant difference between the performance of people with mild and moderate ID and typically developing individuals on imagery vividness scale is noteworthy.

Adaptive Behavior and Executive Functioning in Children with Neurofibromatosis Type 1 Using a Mixed Design

OBJECTIVE

Children with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) demonstrate poorer adaptive functioning compared with same-aged peers; however, there is limited research about the longitudinal pattern of adaptive behavior. The aim of this investigation was to examine parent-reported adaptive behavior of children with NF1 longitudinally beginning in early childhood and to examine relations with executive functioning.

METHOD

Children with NF1 were assessed during early childhood (n = 59; aged 3-7; mean = 4.8, SD = 1.42) or school age (n = 39; aged 9-13; mean = 10.85, SD = 1.58), and a subset was seen at both time points (n = 26). The Scales of Independent Behavior-Revised was used to assess adaptive functioning, and the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Preschool Version/Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function was used to evaluate everyday executive functioning.

RESULTS

Adaptive behavior in early childhood was significantly correlated with adaptive behavior at school age (with the exception of social interaction and communication skills) and was significantly poorer at school age. The frequency of difficulties increased over time for overall adaptive behavior and motor skills. Executive functioning was related to adaptive behavior cross-sectionally within early childhood and at school age and showed longitudinal predictive value over time.

CONCLUSION

This research contributes to the limited NF1 adaptive behavior literature by characterizing the longitudinal pattern of adaptive behavior and relations with executive abilities.

Developmental Trajectories of Adaptive Behavior From Toddlerhood to Middle Childhood in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Longitudinal growth modeling was utilized to examine adaptive behavior over eight years across the three time points (i.e., ages 2-10). Seventy-six parents completed the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales interviews of adaptive behavior. Child participants completed standardized developmental testing and an executive function task in toddlerhood and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule across all time points. Growth models were specified for communication, daily living skills, and socialization domains of adaptive behavior. Mental age in toddlerhood was a significant predictor of trajectories of communication, daily living skills, and socialization. Executive function and autism severity were significant predictors of socialization. Findings suggest executive function as a potential target for promoting the growth of adaptive behavior skills in addition to autism symptomology.

Attenuated relationship between salivary oxytocin levels and attention to social information in adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorder: a comparative study

BACKGROUND

Previous research studies have assessed the relationship between attention to social information and peripheral (e.g., plasma and salivary) oxytocin (OT) levels in typically developing (TD) children and children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A relationship between them was observed in TD children, but not in children with ASD. However, this relationship remains unexamined in other age groups. To clarify whether this lack of association is maintained throughout development in individuals with ASD, we aimed to assess the relationship between salivary OT levels and attention to social information in adolescents and adults with and without ASD.

METHODS

We recruited male adolescents and adults with ASD (n = 17) and TD participants (n = 24). Using the all-in-one eye-tracking system Gazefinder, we measured the percentage fixation time allocated to social information. We also measured the salivary OT levels and Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) of participants. Subsequently, we confirmed group differences and conducted a correlation analysis to investigate the relationships between these three measures.

RESULTS

Salivary OT levels did not show any significant difference between the ASD and TD groups and were negatively correlated with the AQ in the whole-group analysis, but not in within-group analysis. Individuals with ASD had significantly lower percentage fixation times than did TD individuals for eye regions in human faces with/without mouth motion, for upright biological motion, and for people regions in the people and geometry movies. The percentage of fixation for geometric shapes in the people and geometry movies was significantly higher in the ASD than in the TD group. In the TD group, salivary OT levels were positively correlated with percentage fixation times for upright biological motion and people and negatively correlated with inverted biological motion and geometry. However, no significant correlations were found in the ASD group.

CONCLUSIONS

Our exploratory results suggest that salivary OT levels in adolescents and adults with ASD are less indicative of attention to social stimuli than they are in TD adolescents and adults. It is suggested that their association is slightly weaker in adolescents and adults with ASD and that this attenuated relationship appears to be maintained throughout development.

Individual Response to Stressors and Efficiency in Project Activities

This article investigates the way a graded approach can be implemented in the organization of the project-based learning process in accordance with the personality characteristics of subjects. This study is based on the results analysis of the key features of project-based learning as one of the methods for developing human resources. The assessment of subjects’ individual response to stressors at different project stages is justified to be relevant in order to improve project efficiency in the framework of the learning process. The assessment of the individual response of subjects to stressors was carried out according to the activation dynamics of cerebral hemispheres. The research target was to determine features of the subjects’ individual responses to the project activity stressors and to identify specifics of the individual responding at each of its stages. The study involved 56 final-year students of different majors. Aktivatsiometr ATs-9K, a device for comprehensive psychophysiological diagnosis designed by Yu. A. Tsagarelli, was used to monitor hemispheric activation. This hardware and software complex consists of a device diagnosing the activation of cerebral hemispheres based on the galvanic skin response and PC software for automatic data processing. The individual typological indicators of activation (13 measurements in a familiar environment) and activity-situational indicators of activation (seven single measurements at different stages of the project activity) were calculated. The stress response was diagnosed if the activity-situational activation indicators of the cerebral hemispheres exceeded the individual typological activation indices by more than 1.5 times. The results of the empirical study show different types of individual responses to stressors at different stages of the project activity. The analysis of the profiles of individual responses to stressors made it possible to differentiate subjects, and also identify groups of students with the maximum resources for each stage of activity.

Assessment of adaptive behaviour in children with intellectual disability in Oman: an examination of ABAS-3 factor structure and validation in the Arab context

In Oman and elsewhere in Arab countries school professionals rely on measures that were developed in Western countries. Measures that assess adaptive behaviour (AB) that have been developed in Western cultures are argued to be culturally bound. Nevertheless, these measures are used elsewhere despite a paucity of data that examine their cross-national transportability. The theme of test adaptation and transportability of psychological measures is an important issue for school/educational psychologists, clinicians and educational professionals. The present study describes the adaptation process of the U.S.-developed Adaptive Behaviour Assessment System, Third Edition Teacher Form (ABAS-3-TF) for ages 5 to 14 in the Sultanate of Oman, one of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Procedures implemented to help ensure a valid translation and cultural adaptation process are described. Data on 410 children with intellectual disability are examined using the Arabic version of ABAS-3-TF, focusing on testing its factor structure and gender invariance. Data from the Arabic version of ABAS-3-TF provide evidence for the adequacy of a one general factor model. Scale reliability is high for the Arabic version. The finding of invariance across males and females indicate that the scale's factor structure is similar for the two groups. The Arabic version of ABAS-3-TF is adequate for use by clinicians, school psychologists and educational professionals in Oman.