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The present study objectives were to examine the performance of the new M‐CHAT‐R algorithm to the original M‐CHAT algorithm. The main purpose was to examine if the algorithmic changes increase identification of children later diagnosed with ASD, and to examine if there is a trade‐off when changing algorithms. We included 54,463 screened cases from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study. Children were screened using the 23 items of the M‐CHAT at 18 months. Further, the performance of the M‐CHAT‐R algorithm was compared to the M‐CHAT algorithm on the 23‐items. In total, 337 individuals were later diagnosed with ASD. Using M‐CHAT‐R algorithm decreased the number of correctly identified ASD children by 12 compared to M‐CHAT, with no children with ASD screening negative on the M‐CHAT criteria subsequently screening positive utilizing the M‐CHAT‐R algorithm. A nonparametric McNemar's test determined a statistically significant difference in identifying ASD utilizing the M‐CHAT‐R algorithm. The present study examined the application of 20‐item MCHAT‐R scoring criterion to the 23‐item MCHAT. We found that this resulted in decreased sensitivity and increased specificity for identifying children with ASD, which is a trade‐off that needs further investigation in terms of cost‐effectiveness. However, further research is needed to optimize screening for ASD in the early developmental period to increase identification of false negatives. Lay Summary: No study to this date has examined how the change in algorithm between the M‐CHAT and the M‐CHAT‐R affects the identification of ASD. The items and the instrument are very similar, but it has not been examined if the algorithm increases the identification rate of ASD. In this study, we utilized the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child study to examine how well the algorithm of the M‐CHAT performed in identifying children with ASD compared to the algorithm of the M‐CHAT‐R. Our study sample included 54,463 children, whereas 337 later received an ASD diagnosis. This present study shows that a change in algorithm is not necessarily improving the measure, as it did not increase the identification of children with ASD. However, the algorithmic change effectively decreased the number of children falsely identified at risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study evaluated the efficacy of an Integrated Brain, Body, and Social (IBBS) intervention for children with ADHD. Treatment consisted of computerized cognitive remediation training, physical exercises, and a behavior management strategy. Method: Ninety-two children aged 5 to 9 years with ADHD were randomly assigned to 15 weeks of IBBS or to treatment-as-usual. Primary outcome measures included blinded clinician ratings of ADHD symptoms and global clinical functioning. Secondary outcome measures consisted of parent and teacher ratings of ADHD and neurocognitive tests. Results: No significant treatment effects were found on any of our primary outcome measures. In terms of secondary outcome measures, the IBBS group showed significant improvement on a verbal working memory task; however, this result did not survive correction for multiple group comparisons. Conclusion: These results suggest that expanding cognitive training to multiple domains by means of two training modalities does not lead to generalized improvement of ADHD symptomatology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Co‐occurring anxiety is common in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, inconsistencies across parent and child reports of anxiety may complicate the assessment of anxiety in this population. The present study examined parent and child anxiety ratings in children with ASD with and without anxiety disorders and tested the association between parent–child anxiety rating discrepancy and ASD symptom severity. Participants included children aged 8–16 years in three diagnostic groups: ASD with co‐occurring anxiety disorders (ASD + Anxiety; n = 34), ASD without co‐occurring anxiety disorders (ASD; n = 18), and typically developing healthy controls (TD; n = 50). Parents and children completed ratings of child anxiety using the Multidimensional Anxiety Rating Scale. Patterns of parent and child anxiety ratings differed among the three groups, with parent ratings exceeding child ratings only in the ASD + Anxiety group. Parents reported higher levels of child anxiety in the ASD + Anxiety versus ASD group, whereas children reported comparable levels of anxiety in the two groups. Among children with ASD, ASD symptom severity was positively associated with the degree to which parent ratings exceeded child ratings. Results suggest that children with ASD and co‐occurring anxiety disorders endorse some anxiety symptoms but may underreport overall levels of anxiety. In addition, ASD symptom severity might increase discrepancies in parent–child anxiety ratings. These findings suggest a unique and valuable role of child anxiety ratings and suggest that both parent and child anxiety ratings should be considered in light of children's ASD symptom severity and used to guide further assessment. Autism Res 2020, 13: 93–103. © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Lay Summary: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) commonly experience anxiety; yet, their perceptions of their anxiety might differ from their parents' perceptions. This study found that, while children with ASD and anxiety disorders acknowledge some anxiety, their parents report them as having higher levels of anxiety. Also, child and parent perceptions of anxiety may differ more for children with more severe ASD symptoms. How these findings may guide research and clinical practice is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are reported to have greater levels of anger rumination than typically developing children. This study examined anger rumination in children with ASD in comparison to children with disruptive behavior disorder without ASD. We also tested if anger rumination is associated with aggression and the core ASD symptoms of restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRBs). This study included three groups of children aged 8–16 years: 63 had ASD (ASD group), 79 had disruptive behavior disorder (DB group), and 40 healthy controls (HC). ASD and DB groups showed greater anger rumination relative to the HC group. Anger rumination was associated with RRBs in children with ASD, suggesting the link to core ASD symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]