Autism Research最新文献

{"title":"Prospective Memory Performance of Autistic Adults in Everyday Life: The Role of Stress and Motivation","authors":"Larissa L. Faustmann,&nbsp;Mareike Altgassen","doi":"10.1002/aur.70057","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.70057","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Prospective memory (PM) is the ability to remember to carry out intended actions in the future. The present study investigated the PM performance of autistic adults in everyday life. A total of 29 autistic participants and 30 controls matched for age, gender, and cognitive abilities completed various PM tasks (time-based vs. event-based; externally-assigned vs. self-assigned), integrated into a three-day Experience Sampling Method (ESM) assessment. The ESM survey assessed other activities performed during the 3 days, participants' motivation, daily routine, and perceived daily-life stress. No group differences were found between autistic and control participants in any of the various PM tasks. Autistic participants did not differ from control participants in the types of everyday activities performed or in motivation, but showed higher levels of perceived stress. This is the first study to investigate PM performance of autistic individuals in everyday life. The results suggest that autistic adults show no PM difficulties in naturalistic PM tasks.</p>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":"18 7","pages":"1447-1460"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aur.70057","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144176066","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Changes in Early Aperiodic EEG Activity Are Linked to Autism Diagnosis and Language Development in Infants With Family History of Autism","authors":"Carol L. Wilkinson,&nbsp;Haerin Chung,&nbsp;Amy Dave,&nbsp;Helen Tager-Flusberg,&nbsp;Charles A. Nelson","doi":"10.1002/aur.70063","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.70063","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Delays in language often co-occur among toddlers diagnosed with autism. Despite the high prevalence of language delays, the neurobiology underlying such language challenges remains unclear. Prior research has shown reduced EEG power across multiple frequency bands in 3-to-6-month-old infants with an autistic sibling, followed by accelerated increases in power with age. In this study, we decompose the power spectra into aperiodic (broad band neural firing) and periodic (oscillations) activity to explore possible links between aperiodic changes in the first year of life and later language outcomes. Combining EEG data across two longitudinal studies of infants with and without autistic siblings, we assessed whether infants with an elevated familial likelihood (EFL) exhibit altered changes in both periodic and aperiodic EEG activity at 3 and 12 months of age, compared to those with a low likelihood (LL), and whether developmental change in activity is associated with language development. At 3 months of age (<i>n</i> = LL 59, EFL 57), we observed that EFL infants have significantly lower aperiodic activity from 6.7 to 55 Hz (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.05). However, change in aperiodic activity from 3 to 12 months was significantly increased in infants with a later diagnosis of autism, compared to EFL infants without an autism diagnosis (<i>n</i> = LL-NoASD 41, EFL-noASD 16, EFL-ASD 16). In addition, greater increases in aperiodic offset and slope from 3 to 12 months were associated with worse language development measured at 18 months (<i>n</i> = 24). Findings suggest that early age-dependent changes in EEG aperiodic power may serve as potential indicators of autism and language development in infants with a family history of autism.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":"18 7","pages":"1356-1368"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144152984","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Factor Structure and Psychometric Properties of the Child Social Preference Scale-3 in Children With Autism","authors":"Lacey Chetcuti,&nbsp;Antonio Y. Hardan,&nbsp;Emily Spackman,&nbsp;Emma Baker,&nbsp;Thomas W. Frazier,&nbsp;Mirko Uljarevic","doi":"10.1002/aur.70059","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.70059","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Considerable variability in social engagement among individuals with autism is well documented. Since multiple processes may contribute to this heterogeneity, validating tools to assess these differences is crucial. Originally developed in the general population, the Child Social Preference Scale (CSPS-3) aims to assess distinct forms of social disengagement arising from different combinations of approach and avoidance motivations and holds promise for delineating variability in social behaviors within autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study investigated the factor structure and psychometric properties of the CSPS-3 in a sample of 689 children diagnosed with autism (Mage = 11.23, SD = 3.56; 76% male). The results suggest that a bifactor model, consisting of a general factor and three subscales (shyness, unsociability, and social avoidance), provided the best fit to the data, with the general factor accounting for most of the variance. While the subscales demonstrated adequate internal consistency, their construct reliability and stability varied, with much of the reliable variance attributed to the general factor. The structure was consistent across age and sex subgroups, and the subscales showed distinct patterns of associations with key clinical correlates. These findings support the CSPS-3's utility in assessing diverse forms of social disengagement in the autism population, while indicating that the subscales could be refined to better capture their unique aspects.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":"18 7","pages":"1389-1396"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144144635","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Feedback-Driven Learning Through Eye Movements in Autism Spectrum Disorder","authors":"Ian Simpson,&nbsp;David Saldaña,&nbsp;Mila Vulchanova,&nbsp;Maria Luisa Scattoni,&nbsp;Martina Micai","doi":"10.1002/aur.70060","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.70060","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) face challenges in cognitive flexibility and rule-shifting. This study investigated a computerized Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST) paired with eye-tracking to understand the cognitive dynamics of set-shifting difficulties in autistic children and adolescents. The study included 21 Spanish-speaking autistic children and adolescents (mean age: 14.5 years) and 22 typically developing peers (mean age: 15.1), matched by gender, age, language, working memory, and intelligence. Participants sorted cards by number, color, or shape, receiving feedback after each trial. The sorting criterion changed after 10 correct responses without participants' prior knowledge. The task included 128 trials, followed by three strategy-related verbal questions. Behavioral and eye movement data showed that the autistic group performed worse, completing fewer sets and making more errors. Both groups had increased fixations and dwell time after feedback, but controls had a greater increase after incorrect responses. Autistic individuals may struggle with error monitoring and response inhibition, impacting their adaptability and less efficient learning of sorting rules. They engaged less in error analysis and correction than controls. Targeted interventions to enhance feedback processing and adaptive learning strategies could benefit autistic individuals. Future research should explore mechanisms behind eye-movement differences and the effectiveness of related interventions.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":"18 7","pages":"1431-1446"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144144637","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Introduction to the Special Section on the Genetics of Autism","authors":"Genevieve Konopka","doi":"10.1002/aur.70064","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.70064","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;Genetic contributions to the etiology of autism have long been recognized in autism research. However, many aspects of how genetic and genomic factors influence the development and progression of autism remain poorly understood and require further investigation. A wide range of approaches can be employed in this pursuit, including studies of human cohorts, model systems, and detailed mechanistic research at both cellular and organismal levels. To broaden the scope of studies published in &lt;i&gt;Autism Research&lt;/i&gt; related to the genetics of autism, we issued a call for manuscripts to be included in a special issue. Here, we present six comprehensive studies that utilize diverse approaches to investigate the genetic mechanisms underlying autism. Two of these studies (Arutiunian et al. &lt;span&gt;2025&lt;/span&gt;; Hudac et al. &lt;span&gt;2025&lt;/span&gt;) focused primarily on human subjects. One of them (Hudac et al. &lt;span&gt;2025&lt;/span&gt;) examined visual and auditory attention in autistic individuals with monogenic forms of autism—carrying variants in either &lt;i&gt;DYRK1A&lt;/i&gt; or &lt;i&gt;SCN2A&lt;/i&gt;—using eye tracking and electroencephalography (EEG). They found distinct behavioral outcomes depending on the specific genetic variant. The other study (Arutiunian et al. &lt;span&gt;2025&lt;/span&gt;) investigated a separate cohort of autistic individuals with a particular single nucleotide polymorphism in &lt;i&gt;CNTNAP2&lt;/i&gt;, identifying an association with language impairments. Three manuscripts (He et al. &lt;span&gt;2025&lt;/span&gt;; Nishizaki et al. &lt;span&gt;2025&lt;/span&gt;; Rojas et al. &lt;span&gt;2025&lt;/span&gt;) combined research in both human subjects and model systems. One study (He et al. &lt;span&gt;2025&lt;/span&gt;) discovered novel de novo variants in &lt;i&gt;NAA15&lt;/i&gt; associated with autism and conducted detailed studies in loss-of-function mouse models, revealing a role for NAA15 in early brain development. Another study (Nishizaki et al. &lt;span&gt;2025&lt;/span&gt;) identified new genes associated with autism spectrum disorder with disproportionate megalencephaly (ASD-DM) in human cohorts and explored the function of one of these genes, &lt;i&gt;YTHDF2&lt;/i&gt;, in zebrafish models. Their findings showed changes in brain size and gene expression patterns consistent with the observed phenotypes. The third manuscript (Rojas et al. &lt;span&gt;2025&lt;/span&gt;) reported altered levels of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in individuals with autism and used cell lines to investigate the role of specific genes involved in mtDNA replication, although no direct correlation was found between gene expression and mtDNA levels. Finally, one other report (Co et al. &lt;span&gt;2025&lt;/span&gt;) characterized the functional implications of a specific mouse genetic tool related to the high-confidence autism gene &lt;i&gt;TBR1&lt;/i&gt;. They found that this mouse line, while originally designed for another purpose, inadvertently provides a valuable model for studying &lt;i&gt;TBR1&lt;/i&gt; dosage effects on brain development. Collectively, these studies highlight the diverse genetic approaches being used to advance ","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":"18 5","pages":"896-897"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aur.70064","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144129656","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sex-Based Differences in Prenatal and Perinatal Predictors of Autism Spectrum Disorder Using Machine Learning With National Health Data","authors":"Ju Sun Heo,&nbsp;Seung-Woo Yang,&nbsp;Sohee Lee,&nbsp;Kwang-Sig Lee,&nbsp;Ki Hoon Ahn","doi":"10.1002/aur.70054","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.70054","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder influenced by genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors. ASD is characterized by a higher prevalence in males compared to females, highlighting the potential role of sex-specific risk factors in its development. This study aimed to develop sex-specific prenatal and perinatal prediction models for ASD using machine learning and a national population database. A retrospective cohort design was employed, utilizing data from the Korea National Health Insurance Service claims database. The study included 75,105 children born as singletons in 2007 and their mothers, with follow-up data from 2007 to 2021. Twenty prenatal and perinatal risk factors from 2002 to 2007 were analyzed. Random forest models were used to predict ASD, with performance metrics including accuracy and area under the curve (AUC). Random forest variable importance and SHapley Additive exPlanation (SHAP) values were used to identify major predictors and analyze associations. The random forest models achieved high accuracy (0.996) and AUC (0.997) for the total population as well as for the male and female groups. Major predictors included pregestational body mass index (BMI) (0.3679), socioeconomic status (0.2164), maternal age at birth (0.1735), sex (0.0682), and delivery institution (0.0549). SHAP analysis showed that low maternal BMI increased ASD risk in both sexes, while high BMI was associated with greater risk in females. A U-shaped relationship between socioeconomic status and ASD risk was observed, with increased risk in males from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and females from higher ones. These findings highlight the importance of sex-specific risk factors, particularly pregestational BMI, and socioeconomic status, in predicting ASD risk.</p>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":"18 7","pages":"1330-1341"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aur.70054","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144095978","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Identifying and Addressing the Missing Links Between Research, Policy, and Practice in Autism Research: Lessons From Early Autism Screening and Intervention Research","authors":"Giacomo Vivanti,&nbsp;Anne M. Roux,&nbsp;Diana L. Robins,&nbsp;Andrea Trubanova Wieckowski,&nbsp;Allison S. Nahmais,&nbsp;Kaitlin Koffer Miller,&nbsp;Lindsay L. Shea","doi":"10.1002/aur.70055","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.70055","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The evidence base on autism diagnosis and intervention has grown exponentially in the past two decades, but there continue to be gaps in the path connecting research, policy, and practice. For example, although standardized autism screening tools have been shown to be helpful for identifying early signs of autism and facilitating early diagnosis, many pediatricians in the United States do not use them as recommended. Similarly, despite the sound evidence supporting Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions, they are seldom used in early intervention practice. This commentary examines the nature of these gaps using the Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, Sustainment (EPIS) framework, with a focus on the role of “big P” policies, which include legislation and agency regulations, and “little p” policies, which include guidelines set by professional organizations. Efforts to bridge the gap between research and practice through policy offer the potential for improving the lives of those on the autism spectrum through early detection and intervention programs and beyond.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":"18 6","pages":"1146-1155"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144082395","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Limited Effect of Masking During COVID-19 Pandemic on ADOS-2 Algorithm Scores in Toddlers With and Without Autism","authors":"Vernetti Angelina,&nbsp;Morgan Chelsea,&nbsp;Powell Kelly,&nbsp;Macari Suzanne,&nbsp;Chawarska Katarzyna","doi":"10.1002/aur.70050","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.70050","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition (ADOS-2) constitutes one of the most widely used diagnostic instruments for autism and involves a direct face-to-face interaction between clinician and child. During the COVID-19 pandemic, administration of the ADOS-2 continued in several countries, with the requirement of face mask protection. It has been hypothesized that mask wearing may have disrupted the dynamic of child-clinician interaction and differentially affected toddlers with autism. We compared ADOS-2 algorithm scores between cohorts of toddlers evaluated before (pre-COVID-19, <i>n</i> = 232) and during the pandemic (COVID-19, <i>n</i> = 116). The COVID-19 cohort included 41 toddlers with autism spectrum disorders (AUT, Mage = 25.4, SD = 3.8), 34 toddlers with other neurodevelopmental conditions (NDC, Mage = 22.3, SD = 5.0), and 41 typically developing toddlers (TD, Mage = 20.4, SD = 3.6) recruited between September 2020 and April 2023. The pre-COVID-19 cohort was selected from 409 assessments conducted from January 2013 to March 2020. Propensity matching was used to match the pre- and COVID-19 cohorts on sex, chronological age, and verbal and nonverbal developmental quotient (DQ) scores. Ordered logistic regression analyses were computed for social affect (SA) and restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRB) algorithm total and item scores, with cohort (pre-COVID-19/COVID-19) as a fixed factor for each diagnostic group. The analyses revealed a limited impact of cohort on the algorithm scores in all three diagnostic groups. Item-level analysis revealed a significant cohort effect only on two out of 20 items: shared enjoyment and joint attention, with higher (more atypical) scores found in the COVID-19 than in the pre-COVID-19 cohorts. The resiliency of the algorithm and item-level scores to the effect of masking speaks to the strength of the diagnostic tool and its ability to capture a range of social, communication, and repetitive behaviors under both standard and nonstandard conditions.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":"18 6","pages":"1279-1289"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144059767","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Association of Thyroid Hormone and Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 Levels With Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis","authors":"Junzi Long,&nbsp;Xingxing Liao,&nbsp;Kaiyue Han,&nbsp;Maoyuan Niu,&nbsp;Jiarou Chen,&nbsp;Xianna Wang,&nbsp;Jianjun Liu,&nbsp;Yan Zhang,&nbsp;Hao Zhang","doi":"10.1002/aur.70052","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.70052","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The action of the thyroid hormones and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) is interdependent. The levels of thyroid hormone and IGF-1 were reported to be altered in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but the results were controversial. This study aims to compare levels of thyroxine, triiodothyronine, thyroid stimulating hormone, and IGF-1 between the ASD group and neurotypical controls. PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane, and Embase databases were searched for eligible observational studies. We calculated pooled standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of our data using a random or fixed effect model. The search strategy provided a total of 1710 articles, of which 16 articles were quantitatively analyzed. The total number of included participants was 2399 (1285 cases and 1114 controls). The meta-analysis revealed no significantly changed blood levels of thyroxine, free triiodothyronine, free thyroxine, and IGF-1 of subjects with ASD compared to non-autistic controls. The blood TSH levels were significantly lower in ASD subjects than in controls (<i>n</i> = 859, Hedges' g = −1.18, 95% CI: −2.17 to −0.20, <i>p</i> = 0.02). Subgroup-analysis results showed that blood free triiodothyronine (<i>n</i> = 153, Hedges' g = −0.74, 95% CI: −1.08 to −0.40, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.0001, <i>I</i>² = 2%), free thyroxine (<i>n</i> = 153, Hedges' g = −0.72, 95% CI: −1.31 to −0.14, <i>p</i> = 0.02, <i>I</i>² = 66%), and IGF-1 (<i>n</i> = 397; Hedges' g = −0.92; 95% CI: −1.30 to −0.55, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.00001, <i>I</i>² = 63%) levels were significantly reduced in subjects with severe ASD symptoms. Individuals with severe ASD may experience a dysfunction of the hypothalamic–pituitary–thyroid axis, and further studies are warranted to determine the correlation between thyroid hormone and IGF-1 levels and disease severity.</p>\u0000 <p><b>Trial Registration:</b> ClinicalTrials.gov identifiers: NCT01970345</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":"18 7","pages":"1497-1512"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143999110","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Estimated Nutrient Intake and Association With Psychiatric and Sleep Problems in Autistic Youth in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive DevelopmentSM Study","authors":"Petya D. Radoeva,&nbsp;Elizabeth A. Li,&nbsp;Christopher H. Legere,&nbsp;Jared M. Saletin,&nbsp;Noah S. Philip,&nbsp;Daniel P. Dickstein","doi":"10.1002/aur.70040","DOIUrl":"10.1002/aur.70040","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Autistic children often consume less varied diets, experience sleep difficulties, and have higher rates of mental health problems as compared to neurotypical peers. Yet, the direct relationship between all of these domains is not well characterized. We leveraged the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development^SM study (ABCD study) dataset to explore whether estimated levels of consumption of specific macro- and micronutrients correlated with the severity of mental health and sleep problems in autistic youth. We found that low vitamin B3, B6, C, and iron intake was associated with more severe psychiatric problems in autistic children in the ABCD cohort, though these findings did not reach statistical significance after correction for multiple comparisons. In a post hoc analysis, we found that the severity of sleep difficulties was correlated with estimated levels of Vitamins B3, B6, C, and iron intake and with the severity of anxiety/depressive symptoms and/or thought problems. Our analysis on a large number of nutrients, psychiatric symptoms, and sleep serves as an exploratory, initial analysis to identify specific nutrients and psychiatric symptoms that could be the focus of future (confirmatory) studies on the relationship between nutrition, sleep, and mental health in autistic individuals.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":131,"journal":{"name":"Autism Research","volume":"18 6","pages":"1182-1186"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144036679","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}