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We evaluated social anxiety (SA) symptoms in parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs; N = 131) and community parents (N = 597) using the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI). SA was significantly more common in ASD than control mothers (15.6 vs. 6.7 %) and more equal between the ASD and control fathers (3.3 vs. 4.8 %). The ASD mothers scored significantly higher than control mothers on all SPAI scales. ASD fathers scored significantly higher than control fathers on the somatic, cognitive, avoidance and agoraphobic symptoms of SA. It is of clinical import to support ASD parents' well-being as their psychiatric features may contribute greatly to their children's emotional development and the well-being of the whole family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

FMRI was performed with the dynamic facial expressions fear and happiness. This was done to detect differences in valence processing between 25 subjects with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and 27 typically developing controls. Valence scaling was abnormal in ASDs. Positive valence induces lower deactivation and abnormally strong activity in ASD in multiple regions. Negative valence increased deactivation in visual areas in subjects with ASDs. The most marked differences between valences focus on fronto-insular and temporal regions. This supports the idea that subjects with ASDs may have difficulty in passive processing of the salience and mirroring of expressions. When the valence scaling of brain activity fails, in contrast to controls, these areas activate and/or deactivate inappropriately during facial stimuli presented dynamically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is not known whether reproductive factors early in the mother's life influence risk of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). We assessed maternal age at menarche, menstrual cycle characteristics during adolescence, oral contraceptive use prior to first birth, body shape, and body mass index (BMI) in association with ASD using binomial regression in a cohort study of 61,596 women, including 743 cases. Overall, early life factors were not associated with ASD, though early age at menarche (RR for age 10 or less = 1.54, 95% CI 1.18, 2.02, p = 0.0002) and BMI at age 18 of ≥30 (RR 2.03, 95% CI 1.34, 3.08, p = 0.0008) were significantly associated with increased risk of ASD. Further work should investigate the potential influence of these factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contributions of cognitive style and organization to processing and recalling a complex novel stimulus were examined by comparing the Rey Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF) test performance of children, adolescents, and adults with ASD to clinical controls (CC) and non-impaired controls (NC) using the Developmental Scoring System. The ROCF task involves a complex structure with strong organizational or integrative processing demands. The individuals with ASD relied on a predominantly part-oriented strategy to cope with the complexity of the task and did not make the typical developmental shift to a configurational approach. Both processing style and organization (whether pieces of information were perceived as connected to one another in a meaningful way) contributed to structural recall in the ASD group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study identifies the prevalence and types of comorbid psychiatric disorders associated with Asperger syndrome (AS)/high-functioning autism (HFA) in a combined community- and clinic-based sample of fifty 9- to 16-year-old subjects using the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children, Present and Lifetime Version. The level of functioning was estimated using the Children’s Global Assessment Scale. The results support common (prevalence 74%) and often multiple comorbid psychiatric disorders in AS/HFA; behavioral disorders were shown in 44%, anxiety disorders in 42% and tic disorders in 26%. Oppositional defiant disorder, major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders as comorbid conditions indicated significantly lower levels of functioning. To target interventions, routine evaluation of psychiatric comorbidity in subjects with AS/HFA is emphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined social anxiety and internalizing symptoms using the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C), the Social Anxiety Scale for Children -Revised (SASC-R), and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) in a sample of fifty-four high-functioning subjects with autism or Asperger syndrome (HFA/AS) ( M = 11.2 ± 1.7 years) and 305 community subjects ( M = 12.2 ± 2.2 years). Children and adolescents completed the SPAI-C and SASC-R, and their parents completed the CBCL Internalizing scale. Adolescents with HFA/AS scored higher than the community sample on all measures. Behavioural avoidance and evaluative social anxiety increased by age within the HFA/AS group, whereas behavioural avoidance decreased by age in control participants. Data support that HFA/AS in adolescents may be associated with clinically relevant social anxiety symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many people with the diagnosis of Asperger syndrome (AS) show poorly developed skills in understanding emotional messages. The present study addressed discrimination of speech prosody in children with AS at neurophysiological level. Detection of affective prosody was investigated in one-word utterances as indexed by the N1 and the mismatch negativity (MMN) of auditory event-related potentials (ERPs). Data from fourteen boys with AS were compared with those for thirteen typically developed boys. These results suggest atypical neural responses to affective prosody in children with AS and their fathers, especially over the RH, and that this impairment can already be seen at low-level information processes. Our results provide evidence for familial patterns of abnormal auditory brain reactions to prosodic features of speech. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To examine the implications for research of the use of three alternative definitions for Asperger syndrome (AS). Differences across the three nosologic systems were examined in terms of diagnostic assignment, IQ profiles, comorbid symptoms, and familial aggregation of social and other psychiatric symptoms.Method: Standard data on diagnosis, intellectual functioning, comorbidity patterns, and family history were obtained on 65 individuals screened for a very high probability of having autism without mental retardation (or higher functioning autism, HFA) or AS. Diagnoses of AS were established based on three different approaches: DSM-IV, presence/absence of communicative phrase speech by 3 years, and a system designed to highlight prototypical features of AS.Results: Agreement between the three diagnostic systems was poor. AS could be differentiated from HFA (but not from PDD-NOS) on the basis of IQ profiles in two of the three systems. Differences in patterns of comorbid symptomatology were obtained in two of the three systems, although differences were primarily driven by the PDD-NOS category. Only one of the approaches yielded differences relative to aggregation of the “broader phenotype” in family members.Conclusions: Diagnostic assignments of AS based on three commonly used approaches have low agreement and lead to different results in comparisons of IQ profiles, patterns of comorbidity, and familial aggregation of psychiatric symptoms across the approach-specific resultant groups of HFA, AS, and PDD-NOS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we evaluated the incidence of hyperlexia in a clinically referred sample of 80 children with developmental delays. Based on hypotheses previously formulated in the literature, the study investigated the frequency of hyperlexia among boys and girls, the incidence of hyperlexia in children with Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD)-spectrum compared with non-PDD diagnoses, the range of IQ and of various cognitive skills in children with and without hyperlexia, and the developmental outcomes of children with and without hyperlexia. The results revealed no significant differences in the frequency of hyperlexia in girls compared with boys. However, the frequency of hyperlexia was significantly elevated among children with PDD compared with children with non-PDD diagnoses. The range of IQ and other cognitive skills and the developmental outcomes of children with hyperlexia were comparable to those of children without hyperlexia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A correction to the article "Maternal Early Life Factors Associated with Hormone Levels and the Risk of Having a Child with an Autism Spectrum Disorder in the Nurses Health Study II" that was published in the September 14, 2010 issue is presented.