AutismPub Date : 2025-07-01Epub Date: 2025-03-25DOI: 10.1177/13623613251328465
Yongshen Feng, Dali Lu, Tsz Ying Christine Ng, Pui Hing Chau, Lily Man Lee Chan, Jojo Yan Yan Kwok
{"title":"Mindfulness and parenting stress among parents of autistic children: The mediation of resilience and psychological flexibility.","authors":"Yongshen Feng, Dali Lu, Tsz Ying Christine Ng, Pui Hing Chau, Lily Man Lee Chan, Jojo Yan Yan Kwok","doi":"10.1177/13623613251328465","DOIUrl":"10.1177/13623613251328465","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>High parenting stress is associated with diminished quality of life in parents and more problem behaviors in autistic children. Mindfulness-based interventions have demonstrated efficacy in mitigating parenting stress. Psychological flexibility and resilience have been recognized as protective factors against psychological distress. However, the extent to which psychological flexibility and resilience mediate the effect of mindfulness on parenting stress among parents of autistic children remains unclear. This cross-sectional study examined the mediating roles of psychological flexibility and resilience in the relationship between mindfulness and parenting stress. We recruited a convenience sample of 181 Chinese parents of autistic children from Shenzhen Longhua Maternity and Child Healthcare Hospital in Shenzhen, China. This study assessed characteristics, parents' mindfulness, psychological flexibility, resilience, and parenting stress. Results indicated that parents experienced considerable parenting stress. Correlation analysis found that higher mindfulness, psychological flexibility, and resilience were associated with lower parenting stress. After controlling for children's age, gender, core symptom severity, parents' age, gender, marital status, and education levels, psychological flexibility and resilience completely mediated the relationship between mindfulness and parenting stress. These findings suggest that multicomponent psychological interventions may enhance the mental health of parents of children with autism, warranting further investigation.Lay AbstractRaising a child with autism spectrum disorder can be very stressful for parents, and this stress can lead to serious problems, like diminished quality of life in parents and more challenging behaviors in autistic children. But there's something called mindfulness that can help parents feel less stressed. Mindfulness is like training your mind to stay calm and focused. It's like learning to take a deep breath and find calm in a busy day. Our study in China investigated 181 parents of children with autism from Shenzhen Longhua Maternity and Child Healthcare Hospital in Shenzhen, China. We wanted to see if two things-being able to bounce back from hard times (resilience) and being flexible in how you think and act (psychological flexibility)-help mindfulness work its magic in easing stress. We found that more mindful parents also felt less stressed. Moreover, having psychological flexibility and resilience seemed to be the reason why mindfulness was so helpful. After controlling for covariates including children's age, gender, core symptom severity, parents' age, gender, marital status, occupational status, and education levels, the effects of mindfulness on stress still existed. This tells us that programs that teach mindfulness, along with how to build resilience and be more flexible in thinking, could make a difference for parents of children with autism. It could help them ","PeriodicalId":8724,"journal":{"name":"Autism","volume":" ","pages":"1849-1863"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143699590","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AutismPub Date : 2025-07-01Epub Date: 2025-03-26DOI: 10.1177/13623613251328437
Roni Poyas Naharan, Yael Estrugo, Shahar Bar Yehuda, Nirit Bauminger-Zviely
{"title":"Motor and socio-cognitive mechanisms explaining peers' synchronization of joint action across development in autistic and non-autistic children.","authors":"Roni Poyas Naharan, Yael Estrugo, Shahar Bar Yehuda, Nirit Bauminger-Zviely","doi":"10.1177/13623613251328437","DOIUrl":"10.1177/13623613251328437","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>When partners coordinate their movement in time and space to reach a goal, they perform joint action, an important part of every interaction. Joint action involves motor abilities and socio-cognitive skills like theory of mind. Autistic children's lower joint motor coordination (joint action) abilities as well as their motor functioning and theory of mind difficulties may interfere with efficient peer interaction. However, the shared contribution of motor and theory of mind to partners' joint action was not yet explored. This study investigated those contributors (motor and theory of mind) along with group and age differences in 84 autistic children ages 6-16 years and 64 non-autistic children matched by age, sex, and IQ across three age-groups: early-childhood, preadolescence, and adolescence. Basic and advanced theory of mind skills and most motor tasks were higher among adolescents versus early-childhood. However, the autistic group consistently underperformed the non-autistic group in basic and advanced theory of mind levels and in all gross- and fine-motor tasks across all age-groups, revealing unique motor development characteristics in autism. A significant joint full mediation effect emerged for motor and theory of mind skills on joint action performance in both study groups. Understanding that motor and theory of mind skills together underlie joint action opens up a new channel of intervention to facilitate peer interaction.Lay abstractWhen two or more people move together in a coordinated way at the same time and in the same place, they perform \"joint action,\" which is an important part of everyday social interaction. Joint action involves the activation of both motor skills and the social-cognitive understanding of others' thoughts, feelings, and desires-their ability to hold \"Theory of Mind.\" Motor functioning and Theory of Mind may be challenging for autistic individuals. We wanted to investigate how motor skills and the ability to understand others' minds develop in autistic and non-autistic children and adolescents and to explore how these skills contribute to joint action performance. We compared 84 autistic children with 64 non-autistic children matched by age, sex, and IQ. Among these 6- to 16-year-olds, we examined three age-groups: early-childhood, preadolescence, and adolescence. We found that older participants, both in the autistic and non-autistic groups, showed better abilities than younger participants in basic and advanced Theory of Mind skills and in most motor tasks. However, non-autistic children outperformed autistic children in Theory of Mind (at basic and advanced levels) and also in all gross-motor and fine-motor tasks, across all age-groups. The autistic group's motor patterns were characterized by greater variability in tasks' rated difficulty levels compared to their non-autistic peers, who showed more intact, uniform patterns. Both motor and Theory of Mind skills were found to significantly impact joint","PeriodicalId":8724,"journal":{"name":"Autism","volume":" ","pages":"1819-1834"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12159350/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143727639","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AutismPub Date : 2025-07-01Epub Date: 2025-03-29DOI: 10.1177/13623613251325282
Victor Lushin, Steven Marcus, Sha Tao, Malitta Engstrom, Anne Roux, Lindsay Shea
{"title":"Comparing the prevalence of substance use disorders between persons with and without autism spectrum disorders.","authors":"Victor Lushin, Steven Marcus, Sha Tao, Malitta Engstrom, Anne Roux, Lindsay Shea","doi":"10.1177/13623613251325282","DOIUrl":"10.1177/13623613251325282","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Recent research has suggested that people with autism spectrum disorder may be disproportionately at risk of substance use disorders. This study analyzed national-level Medicaid Claims data to compare substance use disorder prevalence among Medicaid enrollees with autism spectrum disorder (<i>N</i> = 388,426) and a random sample of enrollees without autism spectrum disorder (<i>n</i> = 745,699) and to examine whether this association differs across sex and age groups and changes after adjusting for co-occurring mental health conditions. We also examined how the association between autism spectrum disorder and substance use disorder is moderated by co-occurring non-autism spectrum disorder mental health conditions and by community-level social determinants of health by merging Medicaid Claims data with zip code-level US Census data on socioeconomic deprivation. By 2016, 7% of Medicaid beneficiaries with autism spectrum disorder and no intellectual disability had at least one substance use disorder diagnosis, up from 1.75% USD prevalence among enrollees with autism spectrum disorder (no intellectual disability) in 2012 Medicaid data. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder aged 30-64 years were at an elevated risk of cannabis and hallucinogen disorders; this risk is likely compounded by co-occurring mental health conditions, which affect a half of all individuals with autism spectrum disorder and only 23% of individuals without autism spectrum disorder. Research and policy implications are discussed in turn.Lay abstractRecent research has suggested that people with autism spectrum disorder may be disproportionately at risk of substance use disorders. The present study analyzed national-level Medicaid Claims data to compare substance use disorder prevalence among Medicaid beneficiaries with autism spectrum disorder and without autism spectrum disorder and to examine whether this association differs across sex and age groups and depends on mental health conditions besides autism. We also examined how the association between autism spectrum disorder and substance use disorder is moderated by co-occurring non-autism spectrum disorder mental health conditions and by community-level social determinants of health. For the latter purpose, Medicaid Claims data were merged with zip code-level US Census data on socioeconomic deprivation. Our analyses demonstrated that, by 2016, 7% of Medicaid enrollees with autism spectrum disorder and no intellectual disability had at least one substance use disorder diagnosis, up from 1.75% USD prevalence among enrollees with autism spectrum disorder (no intellectual disability) in 2012 Medicaid data. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder aged 30-64 years are at an elevated risk of cannabis and hallucinogen use disorders, while this risk is likely compounded by co-occurring mental health conditions, which affect a half of all individuals with autism spectrum disorder and only 23% of individuals without autism sp","PeriodicalId":8724,"journal":{"name":"Autism","volume":" ","pages":"1674-1687"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12182437/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143742087","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AutismPub Date : 2025-07-01Epub Date: 2025-02-19DOI: 10.1177/13623613251319391
Cristina Vargas, Daniela Paoletti, Simona De Stasio, Carmen Berenguer
{"title":"Sleep disturbances in autistic children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.","authors":"Cristina Vargas, Daniela Paoletti, Simona De Stasio, Carmen Berenguer","doi":"10.1177/13623613251319391","DOIUrl":"10.1177/13623613251319391","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Sleep disturbances are one of the most common comorbidities in autistic children and adolescence. Considering the impact of sleep disorders on development and daily functioning, it is important to know which treatments are considered effective in literature. This systematic review and meta-analysis study specifically aimed to investigate the effectiveness of non-pharmacological interventions for the treatment of sleep disorders in autistic children and adolescents without intellectual disability. Search across PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science were identified 11 randomized controlled trial studies published between 2012 and 2024 that met the inclusion criteria. The results indicate that the interventions considered (Behavioral/psychological, Physical activity, and Somatosensory sleep interventions) significantly improve sleep parameters in this population (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Objective data from actigraphy show an increase in total sleep time and sleep efficiency and a reduction in sleep onset latency. The results also show an improvement in sleep quality assessed through the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire filled out by parents. This study is one of the first to examine through a meta-analysis the positive impact of non-pharmacological therapies in the treatment of sleep disorders in autistic children and adolescents without intellectual disability. Alternative treatments are essential, particularly for those who are intolerant to medication, as it allows clinicians to provide effective interventions tailored to this population.Lay AbstractSleep disorders are common in people on the autistic spectrum and can affect their development, daily function, and overall well-being. This study examined the effectiveness of non-pharmacological intervention to improve sleep in autistic children and adolescents without intellectual disability. We considered 11 studies of non-pharmacological treatments for autistic children and adolescents. The results indicate that these interventions help to improve several sleep parameters, either by increasing, for example, the total time and quality of sleep, or by reducing the time needed for falling asleep. These approaches offer important treatment options especially for those cases where medication is not feasible, allowing physicians and specialists to propose more targeted and safer solutions for managing sleep difficulties in this population.</p>","PeriodicalId":8724,"journal":{"name":"Autism","volume":" ","pages":"1661-1673"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143447832","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AutismPub Date : 2025-07-01Epub Date: 2025-03-27DOI: 10.1177/13623613251325287
Kelsie A Boulton, Lorna Hankin, Marie-Antoinette Hodge, Natalie Ong, Natalie Silove, Adam J Guastella
{"title":"Caregiver-identified strengths in children attending their first neurodevelopmental assessment: Findings from the Sydney child development research registry and development of a child strengths checklist.","authors":"Kelsie A Boulton, Lorna Hankin, Marie-Antoinette Hodge, Natalie Ong, Natalie Silove, Adam J Guastella","doi":"10.1177/13623613251325287","DOIUrl":"10.1177/13623613251325287","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>There has been a growing focus on the importance of understanding strengths in children with neurodevelopmental conditions and how such knowledge can support clinical practices. However, limited research has explored systematic reports of strengths from caregivers of children with neurodevelopmental conditions, most commonly autism. In this study, we explored caregiver-identified strengths in children attending their first neurodevelopmental assessment. Caregivers of 686 children attending a tertiary assessment service answered a survey question about their children's strengths. Content analysis identified 61 unique categories of strengths, which were grouped into six themes: cognitive and intellectual, social and interpersonal, hobbies and passions, character and personality, physical, and behavioural. The most frequently reported specific strengths were kind caring, and compassionate, social and friendly, loving and affectionate, music singing and dancing, and good memory recall. The breadth of positive strengths identified here may reflect the larger population sampled or the diversity of presentations in this cohort. We then present a caregiver checklist, the Child Autism and Neurodevelopment Strengths (CANS) Checklist, that was developed with community representatives, to inform assessment and feedback of child strengths. We discuss what is required to use this knowledge to inform strengths-based practices that can support clinical practice and inform on child development and family well-being.Lay AbstractThere has been a growing focus on the importance of understanding strengths in children with neurodevelopmental conditions, but there is little research exploring caregiver-reported strengths at the time of diagnostic assessment. In this study, we explored caregiver-identified strengths in 686 children who were attending a neurodevelopmental assessment. Content analysis identified 61 unique categories of strengths, which we grouped into six main themes. These six themes were cognitive and intellectual, social and interpersonal, hobbies and passions, character and personality, physical, and behavioural. The most common strengths identified by caregivers were 'kind, caring, and compassionate', 'social and friendly', 'loving and affectionate', 'music, singing, and dancing', and 'good memory recall'. Based on these strengths, we present a checklist that was developed with community representatives, to make sure a strengths-based framework can be used during the diagnostic process. We discuss how we can use this knowledge to develop strengths-based practices that can support clinical practice and inform on child development and family well-being.</p>","PeriodicalId":8724,"journal":{"name":"Autism","volume":" ","pages":"1769-1781"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12159354/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143717756","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AutismPub Date : 2025-07-01Epub Date: 2025-04-01DOI: 10.1177/13623613251325317
Einat Waizbard, Emilio Ferrer, Meghan Miller, Brianna Heath, Derek S Andrews, Sally J Rogers, Christine Wu Nordahl, Marjorie Solomon, David G Amaral
{"title":"Trajectories of autism symptom severity for boys and girls across childhood.","authors":"Einat Waizbard, Emilio Ferrer, Meghan Miller, Brianna Heath, Derek S Andrews, Sally J Rogers, Christine Wu Nordahl, Marjorie Solomon, David G Amaral","doi":"10.1177/13623613251325317","DOIUrl":"10.1177/13623613251325317","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Girls, more than boys, experience a decrease in the severity of autism symptoms during childhood. It is unclear, however, which specific autistic behaviors change more for girls than for boys. Trajectories of autism symptoms were evaluated using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-calibrated severity scores (ADOS-CSS). Change in the specific behavioral characteristics of autism was assessed by studying individual ADOS items for 183 children (55 girls) from age 3-to-11 years. Girls decreased in total autism symptom severity (ADOS-CSS) and restricted/repetitive behavior severity (RRB-CSS) across childhood, while boys remained stable in both. Girls showed decreasing-severity trajectories for seven ADOS items and an increasing-trajectory for one item. Boys showed decreasing-severity trajectories for six items and increasing-severity trajectories for three items. Girls with higher ADOS-CSS at age 3 were more likely to decrease in total symptom severity than other girls. Girls in our study mostly improved or remained stable in autism symptom severity and its specific behaviors during childhood, especially behaviors related to being socially engaged and responsive. Boys' symptom change was variable over time and included both improvement and worsening, especially in social behaviors that are key to interaction. Girls with high early severity levels can potentially decrease substantially in severity during childhood.Lay AbstractThe severity of overall autism symptoms tend to decrease more in autistic girls than in autistic boys during childhood, but we do not know which specific behaviors drive this difference. We studied how specific behaviors characteristic of autism change for girls and boys across childhood. We found that girls mostly improve or remain stable in the severity level of their autism symptoms and its specific behaviors during childhood. They improved mostly in behaviors related to being socially engaged and responsive to others. Furthermore, we found that it is possible for girls with high early autism symptoms to show major improvement during childhood. Boys improved in some specific behaviors but worsened in others. Boys worsened in some behaviors that are key to engaging in social interactions.</p>","PeriodicalId":8724,"journal":{"name":"Autism","volume":" ","pages":"1782-1794"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12182436/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143750910","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AutismPub Date : 2025-07-01Epub Date: 2025-01-10DOI: 10.1177/13623613241312445
Michelle Menezes, Jessica Pappagianopoulos, Jessica V Smith, Mya Howard, Sophie Brunt, Lauren Witte, Sydney Anderson, Brian A Boyd, Micah O Mazurek
{"title":"Prevalence of discrimination experienced by autistic youth as compared to neurotypical youth and youth with other neurodevelopmental diagnoses.","authors":"Michelle Menezes, Jessica Pappagianopoulos, Jessica V Smith, Mya Howard, Sophie Brunt, Lauren Witte, Sydney Anderson, Brian A Boyd, Micah O Mazurek","doi":"10.1177/13623613241312445","DOIUrl":"10.1177/13623613241312445","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Autistic adults have reported experiencing discrimination across settings. Nonetheless, population-based research examining the prevalence of discrimination against autistic individuals has been more limited. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the prevalence of types of discrimination (i.e., due to race or ethnicity, due to sexual orientation or gender identity, and due to health condition or disability) experienced by autistic youth (<i>n</i> = 2339) compared to youth with other neurodevelopmental diagnoses (i.e. attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, learning disability, and speech or other language disorder; <i>n</i> = 10,325) and neurotypical youth (<i>n</i> = 44,781) 6-17 years of age utilizing a large, population-based sample. Data for this study were acquired from the 2021-2022 National Survey of Children's Health, a nationally distributed caregiver-report questionnaire. Results found that the prevalence of discrimination due to race or ethnicity and sexual orientation or gender identity was higher among autistic youth than neurotypical youth. Notably, results also found that discrimination due to health condition or disability was far more prevalent among autistic youth than neurotypical youth and youth with other neurodevelopmental diagnoses. Findings highlight the increased prevalence of discrimination experienced by autistic youth and should prompt researchers, policymakers, and vested community members to action to address this problem.Lay abstractAutistic individuals have described facing unfair or discriminatory treatment across settings, such as in school and at work. However, there have been few studies examining how widespread or prevalent discrimination is against autistic individuals. We aimed to fill that gap by examining how prevalent or common it is for autistic youth to experience discrimination based on race or ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity, and health condition or disability. We compared rates of discrimination against autistic youth to youth without developmental differences/diagnoses and youth with other developmental differences (i.e. youth diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD], learning disability, and speech/language disorders). We analyzed data from the 2021-2022 National Survey of Children's Health, which is a nationwide survey on which parents report about aspects of their children's lives. We found that autistic youth experience higher rates of discrimination based on race or ethnicity and sexual orientation or gender identity compared to youth who are typically developing and do not have a diagnosis (such as a speech or language disorder). Importantly, they also face significantly more discrimination due to their disability than youth with other diagnoses, such as ADHD, and youth without a developmental diagnosis. These results show that autistic youth are at risk for experiencing discriminatory treatment. Our study should motivate researchers, policymaker","PeriodicalId":8724,"journal":{"name":"Autism","volume":" ","pages":"1907-1912"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142943485","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AutismPub Date : 2025-07-01Epub Date: 2025-03-25DOI: 10.1177/13623613251327347
Carly Moser, Leann Smith DaWalt, Meghan M Burke, Julie Lounds Taylor
{"title":"Correlates of self-reported life satisfaction among autistic youth with and without intellectual disability.","authors":"Carly Moser, Leann Smith DaWalt, Meghan M Burke, Julie Lounds Taylor","doi":"10.1177/13623613251327347","DOIUrl":"10.1177/13623613251327347","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Compared to their nonautistic peers, lower levels of life satisfaction have been reported by autistic individuals. It is unclear, however, whether autistic individuals with intellectual disability report similar levels of life satisfaction as autistic individuals without intellectual disability or which characteristics are associated with life satisfaction. This study sought to examine differences in levels of self-reported life satisfaction across those with and without intellectual disability and explore correlates of life satisfaction in a sample of 35 autistic youth with intellectual disability and 99 autistic youth without intellectual disability. No difference in self-reported life satisfaction was detected between autistic youth with and without intellectual disability. Greater self-reported life satisfaction was associated with higher self-determination for autistic youth without intellectual disability. For autistic youth with intellectual disability, greater self-reported life satisfaction was related to more frequent social participation, lower parent stress, and fewer unmet service needs. Unmet service needs and parent stress were significantly stronger correlates of life satisfaction for youth with intellectual disability compared to youth without intellectual disability. Although the sample size of autistic youth with intellectual disability was small, these findings suggest the importance of considering heterogeneity among individuals on the autism spectrum when seeking to understand their well-being.Lay abstractAutistic people report lower life satisfaction compared to people without autism. It is unclear whether autistic people with intellectual disability report similar levels of life satisfaction to autistic people without intellectual disability. In this study, we did not find a difference in levels of life satisfaction for autistic youth with intellectual disability compared to autistic youth without intellectual disability. We also identified factors that might promote better life satisfaction. Higher self-determination was related to higher life satisfaction for autistic youth without intellectual disability. For autistic youth with intellectual disability, more frequent social participation, lower parent stress, and fewer unmet service needs were associated with higher life satisfaction. Unmet service needs and parent stress were more strongly related to life satisfaction for youth with intellectual disability compared to youth without intellectual disability. Our findings suggest that taking a more individualized approach to support the well-being of autistic youth is important.</p>","PeriodicalId":8724,"journal":{"name":"Autism","volume":" ","pages":"1807-1818"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12159343/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143699587","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AutismPub Date : 2025-07-01Epub Date: 2025-04-10DOI: 10.1177/13623613251328463
Deanna Swain, Ji Eun Han, Hallie Brown, Catherine Lord, Sally Rogers, Annette Estes, Connie Kasari, Andrew Pickles, So Hyun Kim
{"title":"Caregiver behavioral changes mediate the effects of naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions: Combining evidence from three randomized controlled trials.","authors":"Deanna Swain, Ji Eun Han, Hallie Brown, Catherine Lord, Sally Rogers, Annette Estes, Connie Kasari, Andrew Pickles, So Hyun Kim","doi":"10.1177/13623613251328463","DOIUrl":"10.1177/13623613251328463","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions target developmentally appropriate skills in young children with autism spectrum disorders using behavioral techniques in naturalistic interactions. Naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions demonstrate strong empirical support and frequently utilize caregiver training of intervention strategies. However, our understanding of the mechanisms of change linked to naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions remains limited. Based on retrospective, secondary data analyses from three previously conducted randomized controlled trials of caregiver-mediated naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions, this study examined the direct effect of intervention on caregiver naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention strategy use and how caregiver changes mediate intervention effects on children's social communication. A total of 419 videos from 229 dyads consisting of autistic children (<i>M</i> = 32.5 months/ages 1-5 years) and caregivers were included in analyses using the masked ratings of the measure of naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention strategy implementation-caregiver changes (MONSI-CC) and brief observation of social communication change (BOSCC-SC). Using longitudinal mediation analyses, we examined the mediation effect of caregiver behavioral changes on children's outcomes. Results demonstrated a significant intervention effect on changes of caregiver naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention strategy use (MONSI-CC) and of changeds of caregiver strategy use (MONSI-CC) on child social communication change (BOSCC-SC) scores, but no overall total effect of intervention on changes of child social communication (BOSCC-SC). This study demonstrates the mediating role of caregiver behavior on the child intervention response, a first step toward better understanding underlying mechanisms in naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions.Lay AbstractNaturalistic developmental behavioral interventions use behavioral techniques in naturalistic interactions and settings. Naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions also teach caregivers to use strategies to enhance social communication in their children with autism spectrum disorder. Naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions are effective in supporting young autistic children but how naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions work (\"underlying mechanisms\") is not known yet. Therefore, by applying new instruments to videos already collected from the three previously conducted randomized controlled trials of caregiver-mediated naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions, we examined how caregivers change in their strategy use over the course of intervention and how that relates to changes in social communication in their autistic children. A total of 419 videos from 229 dyads consisting of autistic children (M = 32.5 months/ages 1-5 years) and caregivers were inclu","PeriodicalId":8724,"journal":{"name":"Autism","volume":" ","pages":"1835-1848"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143962406","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AutismPub Date : 2025-07-01Epub Date: 2025-05-31DOI: 10.1177/13623613251345281
Sheffali Gulati, Indar Kumar Sharawat, Prateek Kumar Panda, Sanjeev V Kothare
{"title":"The vaccine-autism connection: No link, still debate, and we are failing to learn the lessons.","authors":"Sheffali Gulati, Indar Kumar Sharawat, Prateek Kumar Panda, Sanjeev V Kothare","doi":"10.1177/13623613251345281","DOIUrl":"10.1177/13623613251345281","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":8724,"journal":{"name":"Autism","volume":" ","pages":"1639-1645"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144191427","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}