Purpose: The study objective was to determine if the validated Behavioral Inflexibility Scale (BIS) is sensitive to the detection of developmental changes in inflexibility in a sample of autistic children. Methods: Parents of autistic children (n = 146, 3-17 years) completed the BIS at two time points, one year apart, to examine change. Results:…

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is clinically characterized by social and communication difficulties as well as repetitive behaviors. Many children with ASD also suffer from anxiety, which has been associated with alterations in amygdala structure. In this work, the association between amygdala subnuclei volumes and anxiety was assessed in a cohort…

Motor stereotypies are frequently reported in individuals with autism spectrum disorder, but determinants of stereotypies remain poorly understood. In this study, a randomized sample of children with diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder was investigated to identify the prevalence and determinants of stereotypies. A total of 134 children who…

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often experience elevated levels of caregiver strain (CGS). Few studies have examined the relationship between core ASD symptoms and each facet of CGS: objective, subjective internalized, and subjective externalized strain. The predictive effect of core and associated features of ASD on CGS…

Restricted and repetitive behavior (RRB) is one of the two core diagnostic features used to determine the severity of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The Repetitive Behavior Scale-Revised (RBS-R) is widely used to measure the presence and severity of a variety of RRBs in individuals with ASD. Previous studies have implemented a factor analysis…

Background: Compared to their typically developing peers, children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities are at an increased risk of developing emotion regulation difficulties, this is especially the case for autistic individuals with intellectual disabilities. To better understand the emotion regulation experiences of children and…

The purpose of the current study was to use the infant sibling design to explore whether proband traits of autism and ADHD could provide information about their infant sibling's temperament. This could help us to gain information about the extent to which infant temperament traits are differentially associated with autism and ADHD traits. We used…

This was an exploratory cross-sectional study comparing 45 children with ASD to 24 typically developing drug-naïve controls, group-matched on age, sex, and body mass index. Objective data was obtained using the following: an ambulatory circadian monitoring device; saliva samples to determine dim light melatonin onset (DLMO): and three…

Mental health conditions are more prevalent in autistic people than non-autistic people. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire is a commonly used screening tool for emotional and behavioural difficulties in autistic children and adolescents. However, few studies have assessed the psychometric properties of the Strengths and Difficulties…

Background and aims: Despite its high potential for affecting sibling relationships, few studies have explored the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on this important family dynamic. Of these, the reported evidence has been inconsistent across cultures and lacks cross-cultural comparability. For the first time, we investigated cross-cultural…

Background: Current literature mainly focuses on adaptive profiles from a categorical perspective but yields inconclusive results. The present study puts a transdiagnostic approach next to a "classical" categorical approach. Methods: In this study, 222 children (5-18 years old) with autism and/or intellectual disability participated.…

Background: Sensory processing differences are reported both in children with ADHD and in children with autism. Given the substantial overlap between autism and ADHD, the current study examined which sensory features were uniquely predictive of autistic traits after controlling for ADHD symptoms, age, IQ, and sex in a sample of children and…

Individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are more likely to have suicidal thoughts and behaviors. However, little research delineates the temporal and mechanistic associations between potential risk factors and suicidality in autistic individuals. We assessed 129 autistic and 121 age-matched and sex-assigned-at-birth-matched…

Depression is common among autistic youth and is associated with worse quality of life in this group. Despite significant need for high-quality efficacious treatments, there has been very limited research on interventions for depression in autistic youth. This single-arm pilot study examined the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a novel,…

The Autism Impact Measure is a caregiver-reported, behaviorally based measure designed to assess both frequency and functional impact of core ASD symptoms in children. This study used confirmatory factor analysis to determine if the factor structure of the AIM (Repetitive Behavior, Communication, Atypical Behavior, Social Reciprocity, and Peer…