The purpose of this study was to examine the stability of mothers' perceptions of the negative impact of having a child with ASD in a sample of African American and Caucasian families as their children transitioned to early adolescence. Participants were mothers and children participating in an ongoing longitudinal study of children referred…

Previous eye tracking research on the allocation of attention to social information by individuals with autism spectrum disorders is equivocal and may be in part a consequence of variation in stimuli used between studies. The current study explored attention allocation to faces, and within faces, by individuals with Asperger syndrome using a range…

This study evaluated the ability of the Child Behavior Checklist and the Teacher's Report Form to identify children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), using a sample of children with ASD (n = 458), referred children without ASD (n = 1109) and children from the general population (n = 999). A ten items ASD scale was constructed using half…

While there is no cure for autism spectrum disorder, psychopharmacologic agents are often used with behavioral and educational approaches to treat its comorbid symptoms of hyperactivity, irritability, and aggression. Studies suggest that at least 50% of persons with autism spectrum disorder receive psychotropic medications during their life span.…

Social-cognitive deficits differentiate parents with the "broad autism phenotype" from non-broad autism phenotype parents more robustly than other neuropsychological features of autism, suggesting that this domain may be particularly informative for identifying genetic and brain processes associated with the phenotype. The current study…

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is among other things characterized by specific impairments in emotion processing. It is not clear, however, to what extent the typical decline in affective functioning is related to the specific autistic traits. We employed "The Autism Spectrum-Quotient" (AQ) to quantify autistic traits in a group of 500…

The psychometric properties of a questionnaire developed to assess symptoms of anxiety disorders (SCARED-71) were compared between two groups of children: children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder and comorbid anxiety disorders (ASD-group; "n" = 115), and children with anxiety disorders (AD-group; "n" = 122).…

There is limited evidence surrounding the ability of families of children with autism spectrum disorders to access and implement recommended interventions following diagnosis. The distress a family may encounter with regard to inability to access recommended services is also poorly understood. In this study, we present preliminary data regarding…

Autism spectrum disorders are an issue of increasing public health significance. The incidence of autism spectrum disorders has been increasing in recent years, and they are associated with significant personal and financial impacts for affected persons and their families. In recent years, a large number of scientific studies have been undertaken,…

Limited quality of social relations, milder symptom severity and higher intelligence were shown to account for higher anxiety levels in autism spectrum disorders. The current study replicated and extended earlier findings by combining these three determinants of anxiety in autism spectrum disorders in one study. The sample consisted of 134…

There is a paucity of instruments designed to measure social competence of adolescents with autism spectrum disorders. The Social Responsiveness Scale is one of a few that can be used. This study compared differences between mother and father reports of social competence of adolescents. Data were collected from parents of 50 adolescents with and…

This study assessed the relationship between emotion recognition ability and social skills in 42 young children with autistic disorder aged 4-7 years. The analyses revealed that accuracy in recognition of sadness, but not happiness, anger or fear, was associated with higher ratings on the Vineland-II Socialization domain, above and beyond the…

Introduction: Records-based autism spectrum disorder surveillance developed at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been extended to younger cohorts, although the utility of additional record sources has not been examined. We therefore conducted a pilot project to describe whether Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…

The First Year Inventory is a parent-report measure designed to identify 12-month-old infants at risk for autism spectrum disorder. First Year Inventory taps behaviors that indicate risk in the developmental domains of sensory--regulatory and social--communication functioning. This longitudinal study is a follow-up of 699 children at 3 years of…

Recent research suggests that brain development follows an abnormal trajectory in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The current study examined changes in diffusivity with age within defined white matter tracts in a group of typically developing children and a group of children with an ASD, aged 6 to 14 years. Age by group interactions…