| 1. |
- Andershed, Henrik, 1975-, et al.
(författare)
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Initial test of the new risk-need assessment instrument for youths with or at risk for conduct problems : ESTER-assessment
- 2010
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Ingår i: Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences. - : Elsevier BV. - 1877-0428. ; 5, s. 488-492
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- ESTER-assessment is a new assessment instrument for youths (0-18 years), and includes 19 empirically-derived risk and protective factors for conduct problems. This study tests the inter-rater reliability of the five-point rating scale used to assess the 19 factors in ESTER-assessment on 30 institutionalized girls and their file information. Exact agreement between raters varied from 38 to 72 percent on the 19 individual factors, a result much better than chance. Intra-class correlations of the two independent raters on the majority of the 19 individual factors were fair to good. In conclusion, the results lend support to the inter-rater reliability of ESTER-assessment.
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| 2. |
- Berggren, Steve
(författare)
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Emotion recognition and expression in autism spectrum disorder : significance, complexity, and effect of training
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The overall scientific aim of this thesis is to examine emotion recognition in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), its specificity to ASD and connection to other cognitive functions, as well as to map the effects of previous and novel emotion recognition and emotion expression training programs in children with ASD across cultures. Emotion processing training in ASD is a potentially valuable tool to improve the lives and outcomes of children with ASD, but it has been lacking an adequate scientific preparation, content and motivational design, as well as high-end technical expertise. In study I, we review the existing randomized controlled trials on emotion recognition training for children and adolescents with ASD, focusing external validity, a largely aspect in the area. External validity is significant to evaluate for several reasons. First, emotion recognition training approaches have been diverse, and ASD forms population a heterogeneous population. Second, children and adolescents with ASD often have difficulties with generalizing knowledge from the training context to new situations, and it is not clear how this is reflected in the results of the various emotion recognition training programs. Third, emotion recognition training is often performed using computerized programs in controlled settings, raising questions about the extent to which the effects translate to everyday situations. The systematic review demonstrated few indications to presume that current emotion training programs generalize outside of the training setting into everyday life social interactions. This review highlights the need to focus on external validity in future emotion recognition training studies, and to improve reporting of these aspects. Study II examined basic facial affect recognition in well-matched samples ofchildren with ASD, Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and typical development using the computer-based FEFA-2 test. We examined accuracy and response times for general and specific facial affect recognition skills in whole face and eye-region stimuli. The ASD samples performed inferior to typical developing controls. There were no difference between the ADHD sample, on one hand, and the ASD and typical sample, on the other. In the clinical samples, particularly the ADHD sample, cognitive distractibility explained a substantial proportion of variance of basic facial affect recognition performance. This research largely confirms previous findings on emotion recognition in ASD, and aspects of specificity compared to ADHD, a neurodevelopmental condition overlapping with ASD. Importantly, the study shows that performance on emotion recognition tasks is not only depending on pure emotion recognition capacities, but is also largely influenced by other cognitive functions. Study III explored cultural differences in emotion recognition in children with ASD and typically developed children. Compared to many previous studies, differences in recognizing emotion expression was tested in three modalities of basic and complex emotion processing, namely in face, voice, and body language including gestures. These expressions were also examined in integrated form using complex social scenes. The study was conducted across three countries and cultural contexts: Israel, United Kingdom and, and Sweden. Children with ASD showed impairments in both basic and complex emotions on all three modalities and their integration in context compared to typically developing matched control children. Both children with ASD and typical development performed better on basic than complex emotions. Cross-cultural differences were limited to some face and body stimuli, indicating high cross cultural comparability of emotion recognition findings. Study IV included a cross-cultural evaluation of the effects of the serious game “Emotiplay” in ASD on emotion recognition skills, and parent-reported autism symptomatology and adaptive skills in United Kingdom, Israel and Sweden. Emotion recognition tasks comprised face, voice, body, and integrative social scenes. Children used Emotiplay 8-12 weeks in a home setting. In the United Kingdom children were tested prepost, while children in Israel and Sweden were randomized to training or a waiting-list control group. Results showed improvements in emotion recognition regarding body language and integrative tasks as well as adaptive socialization in the United Kingdom site. In Israel and Sweden, the active groups improved more than controls on all emotion recognition outcomes. There was also an effect on autism related symptoms in the sample from Israel. Findings support the feasibility and usefulness of serious gaming to enhance emotion recognition and possibly reduce autism symptoms and socialization issues in autistic children. Emotiplay was found useful across three cultures. Still, future research and follow-up studies are needed to determine long-term effects and evaluate its impact on real life situations.
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| 3. |
- Berggren, Steve, et al.
(författare)
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Emotion recognition training in autism spectrum disorder : A systematic review of challenges related to generalizability.
- 2018
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Ingår i: Developmental Neurorehabilitation. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1751-8423 .- 1751-8431. ; 21:3, s. 141-154
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PURPOSE: To assess the generalizability of findings from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating emotion recognition (ER) training for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).METHODS: We present a systematic review and narrative synthesis of the determinants of external validity in RCTs on ER training. Generalizability of the findings across situations, populations, settings, treatment delivery, and intervention formats was considered.RESULTS: We identified 13 eligible studies. Participants were predominantly boys with ASD in the normative IQ range (IQ > 70), with an age span from 4 to 18 years across studies. Interventions and outcome measures were highly variable. Several studies indicated that training may improve ER, but it is still largely unknown to what extent training effects are translated to daily social life.CONCLUSION: The generalizability of findings from currently available RCTs remains unclear. This underscores the importance of involving children with ASD and their caregivers in informed treatment decisions.
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| 4. |
- Bolte, Sven, et al.
(författare)
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Challenges and Inequalities of Opportunities in European Psychiatry Research The Example of Psychodiagnostic Tool Availability in Research on Early Autism Identification
- 2018
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Ingår i: European Journal of Psychological Assessment. - : Hogrefe Publishing Group. - 1015-5759 .- 2151-2426. ; 34:4, s. 270-277
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Europe is diverse in terms of economy, cultures, socio-demography, and languages. A crucial aspect of psychiatric research is the availability of standardized screening, diagnostic, and characterization instruments. We fine-mapped the accessibility of 14 clinical scales and cognitive tests for the assessment of early childhood Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD; e.g., ADOS, ADI-R, SCQ, SRS, CHAT, MESL) within 21 European countries. These tools are essential for internationally competitive early ASD detection research. We identified a considerable variation not only in the availability, but also psychometric standardization, and formal distribution of the instruments between the countries, privileging English speaking, high-income, and highly populated European countries. Absence of country-specific standardization was a problem across many countries, independent of income and size. Findings demonstrate, on a concrete level, the challenges in creating equal early ASD identification research opportunities in Europe, and the need for increased funding for instrument development and validation. We discuss the reasons, implications, and consequences of this inequity and ways of reducing it.
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| 5. |
- Bölte, Sven, et al.
(författare)
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Inclusive practice for students with neurodevelopmental disorders in Sweden.
- 2021
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Ingår i: Scandinavian journal of child and adolescent psychiatry and psychology. - 2245-8875. ; 9, s. 9-15
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- 'Inclusion' aims to achieve adaptation of the environment to the diverse prerequisites and needs of individuals, instead of demanding of individuals to cope with the challenges of a given context themselves exclusively. All Scandinavian countries have made formal decisions to enhance inclusive practice for children and adolescents with disabilities in educational settings, seeking to implement international conventions. We investigated current inclusive practice for students with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) in Swedish primary, secondary and high-schools using the 61-item INCLUSIO scale among N=4778 school staff with educational responsibilities in 68 public and private schools across 11 municipalities. Overall, school staff reported not to be well prepared to teach students with NDDs and that their school's implementation of concrete inclusive practice was limited. Findings indicate a gap between inclusive educational ambitions and current practice for students with NDDs. Enriched teacher education and supervision for NDDs, a shift in pedagogical views of NDDs and better collaboration between community services, as well as systematic evidence-based implementation plans driven by policy makers and educational authorities may help improve inclusive practice.
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| 6. |
- Choque Olsson, Nora, et al.
(författare)
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Social Skills Training for Children and Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder : A Randomized Controlled Trial
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. - : Elsevier BV. - 0890-8567 .- 1527-5418. ; 56:7, s. 585-592
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: Social skills group training (SSGT) for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is widely applied, but effectiveness in real-world practice has not yet been properly evaluated. This study sought to bridge this gap.METHOD: This 12-week pragmatic randomized controlled trial of SSGT compared to standard care alone was conducted at 13 child and adolescent psychiatry outpatient units in Sweden. Twelve sessions of manualized SSGT ("KONTAKT") were delivered by regular clinical staff. Participants (N = 296; 88 females and 208 males) were children (n = 172) and adolescents (n = 124) aged 8 to 17 years with ASD without intellectual disability. The primary outcome was the Social Responsiveness Scale rating by parents and blinded teachers. Secondary outcomes included parent- and teacher-rated adaptive behaviors, trainer-rated global functioning and clinical severity, and self-reported child and caregiver stress. Assessments were made at baseline, posttreatment, and 3-month follow-up. Moderator analyses were conducted for age and gender.RESULTS: Significant treatment effects on the primary outcome were limited to parent ratings for the adolescent subgroup (posttreatment: -8.3; 95% CI = -14.2 to -1.9; p = .012, effect size [ES] = 0.32; follow-up: -8.6; 95% CI = -15.4 to -1.8; p = .015, ES = 0.33) and females (posttreatment: -8.9; 95% CI = -16.2 to -1.6; p = .019, ES = 0.40). Secondary outcomes indicated moderate effects on adaptive functioning and clinical severity.CONCLUSION: SSGT for children and adolescents with ASD in regular mental health services is feasible and safe. However, the modest and inconsistent effects underscore the importance of continued efforts to improve SSGT beyond current standards.CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION INFORMATION: Social Skills Group Training ("KONTAKT") for Children and Adolescent With High-functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders; https://clinicaltrials.gov/; NCT01854346.
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| 7. |
- Espinosa, Lisa, et al.
(författare)
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Enhanced social learning of threat in adults with autism
- 2020
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Ingår i: Molecular Autism. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2040-2392. ; 11:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Recent theories have linked autism to challenges in prediction learning and social cognition. It is unknown, however, how autism affects learning about threats from others "demonstrators"through observation, which contains predictive learning based on social information. The aims of this study are therefore to investigate social fear learning in individual with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and to examine whether typically developing social cognition is necessary for successful observational learning. Methods: Adults with ASD (n = 23) and neurotypical controls (n = 25) completed a social fear learning (SFL) procedure in which participants watched a "demonstrator"receiving electrical shocks in conjunction with a previously neutral conditioned stimulus (CS+), but never with a safe control stimulus (CS-). Skin conductance was used to measure autonomic responses of learned threat responses to the CS+ versus CS-. Visual attention was measured during learning using eye tracking. To establish a non-social learning baseline, each participant also underwent a test of Pavlovian conditioning. Results: During learning, individuals with ASD attended less to the demonstrator's face, and when later tested, displayed stronger observational, but not Pavlovian, autonomic indices of learning (skin conductance) compared to controls. In controls, both higher levels of attention to the demonstrator's face and trait empathy predicted diminished expressions of learning during test. Limitations: The relatively small sample size of this study and the typical IQ range of the ASD group limit the generalizability of our findings to individuals with ASD in the average intellectual ability range. Conclusions: The enhanced social threat learning in individuals with ASD may be linked to difficulties using visual attention and mental state attributions to downregulate their emotion.
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| 8. |
- Herlogsson, Lars, 1975-, et al.
(författare)
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Polyelectrolyte-Gated Organic Complementary Circuits Operating at Low Power and Voltage
- 2011
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Ingår i: Advanced Materials. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0935-9648 .- 1521-4095. ; 23:40, s. 4684-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this work, polyanionic and polycationic electrolytes are used as gate insulators in p- and n-channel thin-film transistors, respectively. These material combinations are motivated by that the mobile ions in the electrolytes will be attracted to the oppositely charged gate electrodes when the transistors are operated in the accumulation mode. The electronic charges in the semiconductor channels will thus be balanced by the polyions, which are effectively immobile and cannot penetrate into the semiconductor bulk and cause electrochemical doping.
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| 9. |
- Jonsson, Ulf, 1974-, et al.
(författare)
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Long-term social skills group training for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder : a randomized controlled trial.
- 2019
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Ingår i: European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1018-8827 .- 1435-165X. ; 28:2, s. 189-201
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Social skills group training (SSGT) is widely used for intellectually able children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Previous studies indicate small to moderate effects on social communication capacities. The duration of most available programs is relatively short, and extended training might lead to further improvement. This randomized controlled trial compared an extended 24-week version of the SSGT program KONTAKT with standard care. The weekly sessions gradually shifted in content from acquisition of new skills to real-world application of the acquired skills. A total of 50 participants with ASD (15 females; 35 males) aged 8-17 years were included. The study was conducted at two child and adolescent psychiatry outpatient units in Sweden. The primary outcome was the Social Responsiveness Scale-Second Edition (SRS-2) rated by parents and blinded teachers. Secondary outcomes included parent- and teacher-rated adaptive behaviors, trainer-rated global functioning and clinical severity, and self-reported child and caregiver stress. Assessments were made at baseline, posttreatment, and at 3-months follow-up. Parent-rated SRS-2 scores indicated large effects posttreatment [- 19.2; 95% CI - 29.9 to - 8.5; p < .001, effect size (ES) = 0.76], which were maintained at follow-up (- 20.7; 95% CI - 31.7 to - 9.7; p < .0001, ES = 0.82). These estimates indicate substantially larger improvement than previously reported for shorter SSGT. However, the effects on teacher-rated SRS-2 and most secondary outcomes did not reach statistical significance. Our results suggest added benefits of extended SSGT training, implying that service providers might reach better results by optimizing the delivery of SSGT.
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| 10. |
- Jonsson, Ulf, 1974-, et al.
(författare)
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Proof of concept : the TRANSITION program for young adults with autism spectrum disorder and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
- 2021
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1103-8128 .- 1651-2014. ; 28:2, s. 78-90
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The support needs of people with neurodevelopmental disorders are not sufficiently met during the initial years of adulthood.Aim: To evaluate feasibility and preliminary effects of a novel programme designed to empower young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to make progress within significant life domains (i.e. work, education, finance, housing/household management, health, leisure/participation in society, and relationships/social network).Material and Method: TRANSITION is a 24-week programme that combines group-based workshops with personalised support based on goal attainment scaling. The study enrolled 26 young adults (50% females; age 17-24 years) in the normative intellectual range, diagnosed with ASD (n = 8), ADHD (n = 4), or both (n = 14). The intervention was delivered by the regular staff of publicly funded psychiatric services in Stockholm, Sweden.Results: The programme was possible to implement with minor deviations from the manual. Participants and staff generally viewed the intervention positively, but also provided feedback to guide further improvement. There was a high degree of attendance throughout, with 21 participants (81%) completing the programme. All completers exceeded their predefined goal expectations within at least one domain.Conclusions: The TRANSITION-programme is a promising concept that deserves further evaluation.
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