Impact of child factors on parenting stress of mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability: a UK school-based study

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are at risk for high stress levels. Multiple child factors have been identified as predictors of stress in parents of children with ASD, but factors associated with stress in parents of children with ASD and comorbid intellectual disability (ASD-ID) are not well understood. This study examined the role of child’s age, social impairment, executive functions and adaptive skills on parenting stress in mothers of children with ASD-ID. Mothers of 133 children with ASD-ID (aged 4–11 years) completed the Parenting Stress Index–Short Form, the Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Function, the Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scales, and the Social Responsiveness Scale. Mothers’ stress varied according to the child’s educational stage and associated with poor metacognition. No associations were found between parenting stress, age and adaptive skills of children. Social impairment also predicted parenting stress above and beyond child factors. Theoretical implications are discussed

Executive function predicts theory of mind but not social verbal communication in school-aged children with autism spectrum disorder

Background: The association between Executive Function (EF) and Theory of Mind (ToM) in Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been mainly investigated using false belief tasks, whilst less is known about the EF effect on other ToM facets. Furthermore, the role EF plays in social communication in ASD is mainly assessed using parent-report EF ratings rather than direct assessment. Aims: The aim of this study was to shed more light on the effect of performance-based EF measures on ToM and social communication in middle childhood in ASD relative to neurotypical controls. Methods and Procedures: Cross-sectional data were collected from 64 matched, school-aged children with and without ASD (8-12 years old), tested on measures of EF (inhibition, working memory, cognitive flexibility), ToM mental state/emotion recognition and social verbal communication. Outcomes and Results: Significant group differences were observed only in selective EF skills (inhibition & cognitive flexibility) and social verbal communication. EF working memory contributed to the explained variance of ToM but not social verbal communication in middle childhood. Conclusions and Implications: These findings suggest that EF and ToM are still associated in middle childhood and EF may be a crucial predictor of ToM across childhood in ASD. Implications are discussed regarding the social-cognitive impairment relationship in ASD

Everyday executive function and adaptive skills in children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Cross-sectional developmental trajectories

Background and aims: The development of Executive Function (EF) in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has been investigated using mainly performance-based EF measures. Less is known about the development of everyday EF skills. The present study aimed to identify the developmental patterns of everyday EF of children and adolescents with ASD compared to neurotypical controls. The association between EF and adaptive skills was also investigated. Methods: The present study used a cross-sectional developmental trajectory approach and data were collected from 57 children and adolescents with ASD, matched to 63 controls of the same age (7-15 years). Results: Results showed age-related performance declines in most everyday EF domains (e.g. inhibition, working memory, planning) in ASD, whereas for EF emotional control and shift, non-significant differences emerged across age in ASD. Everyday EF predicted adaptive skills over and above age and IQ, in participants overall. Conclusions and Implications: These results suggest that several everyday EF problems increase in adolescence in ASD and that these everyday EF developmental patterns deviate to a great extent from those of typical development. Shedding more light on the developmental course of all types of EF processes as well as their association with crucial social outcomes in ASD could contribute to a better theoretical understanding of the heterogeneity of the neurocognitive development in ASD

Hot and cool executive function in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder: Cross-sectional developmental trajectories

The development of executive function (EF) in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has only been investigated using “cool”-cognitive- EF tasks. Little is known about the development of “hot”-affective- EF and whether it follows a similar developmental pathway. This study employed a cross-sectional developmental trajectories approach to examine the developmental changes in cool (working memory, inhibition, planning) and hot EF (delay discounting, affective decision making) of ASD participants (n=79) and controls (n=91) relative to age and IQ, shedding more light on the hot-cool EF organisation. The developmental trajectories of some aspects of cool EF (working memory, planning) differed significantly as a function of age in ASD participants relative to controls. For both hot EFs no significant age-related changes were found in either group. These findings extend our understanding regarding the maturation of EF from childhood through adolescence in ASD

Developmental trends of hot and cool executive function in school aged children with and without autism spectrum disorder: links with theory of mind

The development of executive function (EF) in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been investigated using only “cool”-cognitive- EF tasks while there is limited knowledge regarding the development of “hot”-affective- EF. Although cool EF development and its links to theory of mind (ToM) have been widely examined, understanding of the influence of hot EF to ToM mechanisms is minimal. The present study introduced a longitudinal design to examine the developmental changes in cool and hot EF of children with ASD (n=45) and matched (to age and IQ) controls (n=37) as well as the impact of EF on ToM development over a school year. For children with ASD, although selective cool (working memory, inhibition) and hot (affective decision making) EF domains presented age-related improvements, they never reached the performance level of the control group. Early cool working memory predicted later ToM in both groups but early hot delay discounting predicted later ToM only in the ASD group. No evidence was found for the reverse pattern (early ToM predicting later EF). These findings suggest that improvements in some EF aspects are evident in school age in ASD and highlight the crucial role both cool and hot EF play in ToM development

Hot and cool executive function and its relation to theory of mind in children with and without autism spectrum disorder

Previous research has clearly demonstrated that Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) involves deficits in multiple neuropsychological functions, such as Executive Function (EF) and Theory of Mind (ToM). A conceptual distinction is commonly made between cool and hot EF. In ASD, continued attention has been paid to the cool areas of executive dysfunction. Cool EF has been strongly related to ToM but research has not taken into account the association between hot EF and ToM in ASD. The present study investigates the associations between hot and cool EF and ToM in 56 school-aged children with ASD and 69 controls on tasks tapping cool EF (i.e. working memory, inhibition, planning), hot EF (i.e. affective decision making, delay discounting), and ToM (i.e. mental state/ emotion recognition and false belief). Significant group differences in each EF measure support an executive dysfunction in both domains in ASD. Strong associations between delay discounting and ToM mental state/ emotion recognition are reported suggesting that hot EF makes a unique contribution to ToM above and beyond cool EF in typical development and ASD. This study improves understanding of the profile of higher-order cognitive deficits in children with ASD, which may inform diagnosis and intervention

Developmental trajectories and correlates of executive function in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder

Executive function (EF; set of high-order cognitive skills) is a salient neuropsychological impairment present in several samples of children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and has been linked to ASD’s social outcomes, including Theory of Mind (ToM; ability to infer mental states) and adaptive skills. However, understanding of the development of EF and its contribution to social outcomes in ASD is limited as research to date has rarely employed longitudinal designs while it has mainly focused on cool-cognitive EF, without including the hot-affective EF skills. The present thesis was the first to date to investigate the developmental trends of both hot and cool EF as well as “real-life” EF abilities (as rated by teachers) across childhood and adolescence in ASD and typical development. The EF developmental relations to ToM and adaptive skills were also examined across that broad age span (7-16 years) but a particular longitudinal focus was set on the links between EF and ToM across middle childhood (7-12 years). This original piece of research aimed to shed more light on the nature of the developmental pathway followed in ASD relative to typically developing peers across a broad age range and expand understanding of the neurocognitive impairments in EF that underpin crucial social and behavioural outcomes in middle childhood and adolescence in ASD. Overall, 170 children and adolescents (7-16 years), 91 controls and 79 with ASD, were assessed cross-sectionally. A smaller subgroup of children from the initial sample, aged between 7-12 years (37 controls and 45 with ASD) was followed after one year across middle childhood. Children and adolescents undertook tasks that assessed their cool EF (inhibition, working memory, planning), hot EF (affective decision making, delay discounting), ToM (false belief and mental state/ emotion recognition) and IQ ability at both time points. Teacher ratings of participants’ “real-life” EF abilities and adaptive skills were also obtained at the first time point. It was found for the first time that both cool and hot EF linked with ToM in ASD and controls, with significant developmental improvements for selective cool and hot EF emerging across middle childhood. The expansion of the investigation of the developmental trends to adolescence in ASD revealed mainly a developmental pattern of declines or nonsignificant changes between younger children and adolescents for cool and hot EF (only cool inhibition showed improvements), suggesting that perhaps no dramatic EF changes occur beyond the age of 12 years in ASD. ToM and EF were still associated during adolescence in ASD and typical development. Cool and hot EF presented differentiated cross-sectional developmental trajectories and were found associated only in typical development suggesting that separable cool and hot domains of EF may be apparent in ASD. Finally, the development of “real-life” EF skills was found to also follow a differentiated pattern relative to performancebased, cool and hot EF skills, and only “real-life” but not performance-based EF predicted adaptive skills in ASD and typical development. Generally, with few exceptions (i.e. hot delay discounting), cool and hot EF of children and adolescents with ASD followed a deviant development compared to typically developing peers. The present research emphasised the importance of examining the development of cognitive skills (EF) and their links with behaviour in ASD as it may provide a better understanding of theoretical conceptualisations and inform diagnostic assessment and interventions. The organisation and developmental relationships of hot and cool EF within broad age ranges is a current, open topic of debate that the present thesis addressed. These findings may be crucial in overcoming the limitations of current theories of EF development and lead to a better understanding of the heterogeneity in neurocognitive impairments in ASD

Retrospective Accounts of Bullying Victimization at School: Associations with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms and Post-Traumatic Growth among University Students

This retrospective study investigated the association between bullying victimization experiences at school, current post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and post-traumatic growth (PTG) among Greek university students. A sample of 400 university students aged 17 to 40 years (M age = 20.33, SD = 3.18) completed self-reported scales measuring school bullying victimization experiences, post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and post-traumatic growth. Results showed that victims of school bullying reported mild levels of PTSD and moderate feelings of post-traumatic growth. Females presented higher scores of post-traumatic growth. Duration and frequency of victimization of school bullying were found to present a significant effect on PTSD symptoms and PTG, respectively. Post-traumatic growth as a result of school-bullying victimization was related to PTSD symptom severity and this relationship was curvilinear. The findings have implications in terms of informing prospective interventions targeting the enhancement of students’ sense of growth for handling peer aggression effectively. © 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG

Retrospective accounts of bullying victimization at school: Associations with post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and post-traumatic growth among university students

This retrospective study investigated the association between bullying victimization experiences at school, current post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and post-traumatic growth (PTG) among Greek university students. A sample of 400 university students aged 17 to 40 years (M age = 20.33, SD = 3.18) completed self-reported scales measuring school bullying victimization experiences, post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and post-traumatic growth. Results showed that victims of school bullying reported mild levels of PTSD and moderate feelings of post-traumatic growth. Females presented higher scores of post-traumatic growth. Duration and frequency of victimization of school bullying were found to present a significant effect on PTSD symptoms and PTG, respectively. Post-traumatic growth as a result of school-bullying victimization was related to PTSD symptom severity and this relationship was curvilinear. The findings have implications in terms of informing prospective interventions targeting the enhancement of students’ sense of growth for handling peer aggression effectively