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This triple-arm, double-blind, randomized clinical trial investigated the effect of multisession prefrontal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on social functioning in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A total of 105 individuals (age 14-21 years) diagnosed with ASD were randomized into the active-tDCS, sham-tDCS, and waitlist control groups. The experimental group received 20 min of 1.5 mA tDCS stimulation (cathode: F3; anode: Fp2) for 10 days with concurrent computerized cognitive remediation training. Changes in overall social functioning, social communication, and restricted, repetitive behaviors (RRB) were measured by the Social Responsiveness Scale-2nd edition (SRS-2). Two-level hierarchical linear mixed-model analysis showed significant group*time interactions for SRS-2 total [F(2, 107.09) = 7.82; p = 0.001] and RRB [F(2, 90.26) = 5.62; p = 0.005] T-scores. When compared with the waitlist control group, the changes in scores were only significant in active-tDCS (SRS-2 total T-score p < 0.001, d = 0.61; SRS-2 RRB T-score p = 0.002, d = 0.88), but not sham-tDCS (SRS-2 total T-score p < 0.12, d = 0.30; SRS-2 RRB T-score p = 0.54, d = 0.17) group. Multiple sessions of prefrontal tDCS coupled with cognitive training is a safe and effective treatment for improving social functioning in people with ASD. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov (ID: NCT03814083; URL: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03814083).

Home and community-based services (HCBS) for older adults have been promoted worldwide to address the growing problems of aging. This systematic review included 59 studies published from 2013 to 2023 to explore factors influencing the utilization of HCBS among older adults. The review identified 15 common factors grouped into four levels of influence: individual, inter-relationship, community, and social contextual levels. The findings suggest that HCBS utilization is a dynamic process influenced by multiple factors at different levels. Gerontological social work should incorporate ecological thinking to improve practice and strengthen caregiver-recipient relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Older-adult migrants constitute a proportion of the global population, and loneliness hinders their adaptation to host areas. However, review studies on risk factors for loneliness target general older-adults without focusing on older-adult migrants. Therefore, this study systematically reviews and synthesizes the factors influencing the loneliness of older-adult migrants. Five databases were searched and screened for quantitative studies investigating the relationship between risk factors and loneliness among older-adult migrants (over age 50). Finally, 35 articles were included. Factors related to loneliness in older-adult migrants were synthesized into sociodemographic, physical health, psychological, interpersonal, and acculturation-related factors. Consistent significant relationships with loneliness were found for a few risk factors, including not having spouses, low subjective financial status, poor self-rated health, poor psychological status, few non-kin ties, low quality of kin and non-kin ties, and a weak sense of belonging to either one's ethnic group or that of the host areas. This review discusses the unique findings on the risk factors for loneliness in older-adult migrants. Additionally, the current literature on loneliness in older-adult migrants has some research gaps, calling for longitudinal studies with a rigorous design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives Community support has a profound positive impact on older people's health and plays a crucial role in facilitating aging in place. This impact is particularly significant in the Chinese context, where community support can alleviate the pressure on traditional family caregiving. This study translated, adapted, and validated the perceived community support questionnaire (PCSQ) for use with older Chinese. Research Design and Methods Data for this validation study were collected from a cross-sectional survey of 1,064 Chinese aged 65 years and above. Following the cultural adaptation of the PCSQ-14, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to examine its factor structure. Criterion validity, convergent and discriminant validity, internal consistency reliability, and test–retest reliability of the scale were also assessed. Results Based on the CFA results, the adapted PCSQ-14 was found to have a 3-factor solution for community integration, community participation, and community organizations. The criterion-related validity was supported by its significant correlation with depression. Convergent and discriminant validity were established, with the internal consistency of the scale being 0.90. The test–retest reliability intraclass correlation coefficient for the scale was 0.78. Discussion and Implications The adapted version of the PCSQ-14 demonstrated promising psychometric properties in assessing perceived community support in older Chinese. The adapted PCSQ-14 could assist researchers in determining older Chinese adults' perceptions of community support, and could also assist practitioners and policymakers in developing targeted services for older people and allocating resources more effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined the memory performance and cortical connectivity of children with ASD, and investigated whether the memory deficits exhibited by these children were associated with the cortical connectivity. Twenty-one children with ASD and 21 children with normal development (NC), aged 5-14 years, participated in the study. Each child was administered a neuropsychological battery that included the Test of Non-verbal Intelligence (TONI-III), Digit Span test (DS), Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (Rey-O), and Hong Kong List Learning Test (HKLLT); and an EEG recording session when performing the visual encoding Object Recognition (OR) task. Six neuropsychological measures from the test battery and six EEG coherence measures in the theta band were compared between the children with ASD and normal children. Results indicated that children with ASD performed at comparable levels with normal children in the DS and Rey-O, but were significantly poorer in HKLLT and OR. They also exhibited significantly elevated long-range coherences in the fronto-posterior connections involving the left hemisphere (left anterior-left posterior; left anterior-right posterior). Pearson correlation showed significant negative associations between the anterior-posterior EEG coherences and memory performance. (Contains 2 figures and 4 tables.)

Previous studies showed that the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is activated when individuals engage in attention and inhibitory control tasks. The present study examined whether ACC activity is associated with behavioral performance of the two tasks. Twenty normal and 20 children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) were subjected to neuropsychological assessments on attention and inhibitory control, as well as electroencephalography recording. Children with ASD performed significantly worse than normal children on attention tasks as shown in their poorer performance on the Digit Span test, the greater number of Omission Errors on both the Continuous Performance Test II and the Go/No-Go tasks. They also performed significantly worse than normal children on inhibitory control tasks as shown by the greater number of False Alarms on the Object Recognition and Hong Kong List Learning Test. Their ACC activities, as indicated by relative theta power, were found to be significantly lower than those of normal controls during performance of the Go/No-Go task. Depressed ACC activities were further found to be significantly associated with poorer performance in attention and inhibition. Clinical implications on the use of theta activities in the ACC as an indicator to monitor intervention progress in children with ASD were discussed. (Contains 3 figures and 4 tables.)

The present study examined the verbal memory profile and its relation to organizational strategies in high-functioning (Hi-AUT) and low-functioning (Lo-AUT) children with autism. Twenty-two Hi-AUT and 16 Lo-AUT, and 22 age-, gender- and handedness-matched normal children (NC) were required to remember a list of semantically related words for immediate and delayed recall and recognition. All autistic children showed impaired free recall, a reduced discrimination score and an elevated false alarm rate at recognition. While Hi-AUT children showed encoding and retrieval deficit, Lo-AUT children demonstrated more severe encoding problem and an additional retention difficulty. Lo-AUT, but not the Hi-AUT, children showed impaired semantic clustering. The recall performance in autistic children was not as strongly correlated with semantic clustering as in NC. The dual deficits of encoding and retrieval in autistic children, regardless of functioning level, implicate a frontal-lobe problem commonly observed in autism. The additional retention difficulty shown by low-functioning autistic children may be suggestive of pathological temporal-lobe involvement. The present findings may provide insights into future exploration of memory intervention for autistic children. (Contains 3 figures and 2 tables.)