Loneliness has been associated with several adverse psychosocial outcomes in childhood and adolescence. The present study aimed to investigate feelings of loneliness and social dissatisfaction in school-aged typically-developing (TD) siblings of children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). For this purpose, 118 siblings of children with ASD…

High levels of parenting stress have been detected in mothers of children with Autism (ASD) and children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) comparing with mothers of typically developing (TD) children. The current study explored the implications of social support (confidant and affective support) and child characteristics…

Prenatal cannabis use and maternal stress have been proposed as risk factors for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Black mothers and mothers of lower socioeconomic status (SES) may be especially likely to experience high levels of stress. This study examined the impact of prenatal cannabis use and maternal stress (i.e., prenatal distress, racial…

Few studies have examined the relationships among parents' resilience, parenting stress, and social support. This study surveyed 486 parents of children with disability in China to understand the role of social support between parenting stress and parents' resilience. The results indicated that the resilience of Chinese parents of children with…

This study tested the hypothesis that exposure of children prior to their third birthday to procedures requiring general anesthesia is associated with an increased incidence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in later life. This study employed a nested, 1:2 matched-case control study design using ASD cases identified in a population-based birth…

This study characterizes the subcortical auditory brainstem response (speech-ABR) and cortical auditory processing (P1 and Mismatch Negativity; MMN) to speech sounds and their relationship to autistic traits and sensory features within the same group of autistic children (n = 10) matched on age and non-verbal IQ to their typically developing (TD)…

Atypical functional connectivity (FC) and an imbalance of excitation-to-inhibition (E/I) have been previously reported in cerebro-cerebellar circuits in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The current investigation used resting state fMRI and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ([superscript 1]H-MRS) to examine the relationships between E/I…

Parental involvement plays a pivotal role in promoting developmental and educational outcomes for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study aimed to examine the relationships between social support, parenting stress, and parental involvement by investigating a sample of 245 Chinese parents of children with ASD. Mediation analyses…

National Surveys of Children's Health (NSCH, 2016-2018) data were analyzed to determine if conjoint monitoring and screening showed stronger associations with children under 5 identified with ASD compared to monitoring alone, screening alone or no monitoring or screening; and investigate relationships between monitoring and screening across…

Few interventions exist for school-aged minimally verbal children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Even though play skills are associated with children's production of language, few studies have focused on play for minimally verbal children. Fifty-eight minimally verbal children with ASD received a naturalistic developmental behavioral…

The aim of this meta-analysis was to investigate factors associated with resilience in familial caregivers of children with developmental disabilities. The protocol was registered in the PROSPERO database, with the registration number CRD42018105180. Several electronic databases were searched for studies. A random-effects meta-analysis was…

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder with poorly understood etiology. Many maternal exposures during pregnancy and breastfeeding potentially interfere with neurodevelopment. Using data from two age- and sex-matched case-control studies in Jamaica (n = 298 pairs), results of conditional logistic regression…

Frith's original notion of 'weak central coherence' suggested that increased local processing in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) resulted from reduced global processing. More recent accounts have emphasised superior local perception and suggested intact global integration. However, tasks often place local and global processing in direct trade-off,…

Sensory issues are of great interest in ASD diagnosis. However, their investigation is mainly based on external observation (parent reports), with methodological limitations. Unobtrusive olfactory assessment allows studying autism neurosensoriality. Here, 20 male children with high-functioning ASD and 20 matched controls were administered a…

The protective effects of social support for caregiver mental health are well documented, however the differential impact of support providers (partner, child, family, siblings, friends, professionals) and types (perceived, received) remain unclear. Observational data from 21 independent studies, involving a pooled sample of 2273 parents,…