Evaluating the latent structure of the non-social domain of autism in autistic adults

BackgroundThe social domain of autism has been studied in depth, but the relationship between the non-social traits of autism has received less attention. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) outlines four criteria that make up the non-social domain including repetitive motor movements, insistence on sameness, restricted interests and sensory sensitivity. There is a lack of research into the relationship between these four criteria. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between the non-social traits of autism in a large sample of autistic adults. It explored whether these traits are best conceptualised as four distinct factors, or exist along a single dimension.MethodsParticipants included autistic adults from the Netherlands Autism Register. The four components identified within the DSM-5 non-social domain were measured by items from the Adult Routines Inventory, the Autism Spectrum Quotient short and the Sensory Perception Quotient short. Confirmatory factor analysis, as well as exploratory factor analysis and exploratory structural equation modelling, was implemented to examine the relationship between these four criteria.ResultsResults indicated that a four-factor model provided the best fit, mapping onto the DSM-5 criteria. These four factors were moderately correlated, suggesting that four distinct, yet related factors best describe the non-social domain of autism. The one-factor model did not provide a good fit, highlighting that the non-social domain of autism is not a unitary construct.LimitationsThe study included autistic adults who were cognitively able to complete the self-report measures. This may limit the generalisability of the findings to those who are less able to do so.ConclusionsThis study provided evidence for the multidimensional nature of the non-social domain of autism. Given only two of the four criteria within the non-social domain need to be endorsed for a diagnosis of autism, there is room for substantial variation across individuals, who will have a unique profile within the non-social domain. The results have implications for our understanding of the heterogeneous nature of autistic traits, as well as for how we conceptualise autism as a diagnostic category. This is important for the provision of diagnosis and support within research and clinical practice

Do adults with high functioning autism or Asperger Syndrome differ in empathy and emotion recognition?

The present study examined whether adults with high functioning autism (HFA) showed greater difficulties in (i) their self-reported ability to empathise with others and/or (ii) their ability to read mental states in others’ eyes than adults with Asperger syndrome (AS). The Empathy Quotient (EQ) and ‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes’ Test (Eyes Test) were compared in 43 adults with AS and 43 adults with HFA. No significant difference was observed on EQ score between groups, while adults with AS performed significantly better on the Eyes Test than those with HFA. This suggests that adults with HFA may need more support, particularly in mentalizing and complex emotion recognition, and raises questions about the existence of subgroups within autism spectrum conditions

Social brain activation during mentalizing in a large autism cohort: the Longitudinal European Autism Project

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition with key deficits in social functioning. It is widely assumed that the biological underpinnings of social impairment are neurofunctional alterations in the “social brain,” a neural circuitry involved in inferring the mental state of a social partner. However, previous evidence comes from small-scale studies and findings have been mixed. We therefore carried out the to-date largest study on neural correlates of mentalizing in ASD. Methods: As part of the Longitudinal European Autism Project, we performed functional magnetic resonance imaging at six European sites in a large, well-powered, and deeply phenotyped sample of individuals with ASD (N = 205) and typically developing (TD) individuals (N = 189) aged 6 to 30 years. We presented an animated shapes task to assess and comprehensively characterize social brain activation during mentalizing. We tested for effects of age, diagnosis, and their association with symptom measures, including a continuous measure of autistic traits. Results: We observed robust effects of task. Within the ASD sample, autistic traits were moderately associated with functional activation in one of the key regions of the social brain, the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. However, there were no significant effects of diagnosis on task performance and no effects of age and diagnosis on social brain responses. Besides a lack of mean group differences, our data provide no evidence for meaningful differences in the distribution of brain response measures. Extensive control analyses suggest that the lack of case-control differences was not due to a variety of potential confounders. Conclusions: Contrary to prior reports, this large-scale study does not support the assumption that altered social brain activation during mentalizing forms a common neural marker of ASD, at least with the paradigm we employed. Yet, autistic individuals show socio-behavioral deficits. Our work therefore highlights the need to interrogate social brain function with other brain measures, such as connectivity and network-based approaches, using other paradigms, or applying complementary analysis approaches to assess individual differences in this heterogeneous condition

Correction: S1PR1 drives a feedforward signalling loop to regulate BATF3 and the transcriptional programme of Hodgkin lymphoma cells.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper

Exploring Cultural Differences in Autistic Traits: A Factor Analytic Study of Children with Autism in China and the Netherlands.

Autism spectrum disorders are diagnosed globally, but recognition, interpretation and reporting may vary across cultures. To compare autism across cultures it is important to investigate whether the tools used are conceptually equivalent across cultures. This study evaluated the factor structure of the parent-reported Autism Spectrum Quotient Short Form in autistic children from China (n = 327; 3 to 17 years) and the Netherlands (n = 694; 6 to 16 years). Confirmatory factor analysis did not support the two-factor hierarchical model previously identified. Exploratory factor analysis indicated culturally variant factor structures between China and the Netherlands, which may hamper cross-cultural comparisons. Several items loaded onto different factors in the two samples, indicating substantial variation in parent-reported autistic traits between China and the Netherlands

Influence of intranasal steroids during the grass pollen season on bronchial responsiveness in children and young adults with asthma and hay fever

BACKGROUND—It has been reported that intranasal corticosteroids can influence bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) in asthmatic subjects with seasonal rhinitis. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effect of intranasal fluticasone propionate and beclomethasone dipropionate on BHR and bronchial calibre (forced expiratory volume in one second, FEV(1)) in children and young adults with seasonal rhinitis and mild asthma during two consecutive grass pollen seasons.
METHODS—In the first pollen season 25 patients aged 8-28 years were included in a double blind, placebo controlled study. The active treatment group used fluticasone aqueous spray 200 µg once daily. In the second pollen season 72 patients aged 8-28 years participated in a double blind, placebo controlled study of a similar design to that of the previous year except that an additional treatment group of patients using beclomethasone 200 µg twice daily was included. FEV(1) was measured before and after three and six weeks of treatment; BHR to methacholine (PD(20)) was measured before and after six weeks of treatment.
RESULTS—In the first season the mean (SD) logPD(20) of the patients decreased significantly both in the fluticasone group (from 2.43(0.8) µg to 1.86 (0.85) µg) and in the placebo group (from 2.41(0.42) µg to 1.87 (0.78) µg) without any intergroup difference in the change in logPD(20). In the second pollen season the mean logPD(20) in the fluticasone, beclomethasone, and placebo groups did not change significantly.
CONCLUSIONS—Intranasal steroids did not influence BHR during two grass pollen seasons in children and young adults with seasonal rhinitis and mild asthma.