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- Billstedt, Eva, 1961, et al.
(author)
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Neurodevelopmental disorders in young violent offenders: Overlap and background characteristics
- 2017
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In: Psychiatry Research. - : Elsevier BV. - 0165-1781. ; 252, s. 234-241
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Neurodevelopmental disorders (Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), tic disorder, intellectual disability (ID)), in prison populations have received increased attention but the focus has generally been on one single condition leaving out the global picture. This study assessed the prevalence and overlap of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) in a consecutive cohort (n=270) of young adult male offenders (age 18-25 years), sentenced for "hands-on" violent offences and serving prison time in Swedish prisons. Seventy-one percent of all who met inclusion criteria participated. Comprehensive clinical assessments were carried out including history of early antisocial behavior and maladjustment, self-report questionnaires and an intelligence test. Sixty-three percent of the study group met DSM-IV criteria for childhood ADHD, 43% for ADHD in adulthood, 10% met criteria for an ASD, 6% for Tourette syndrome, and 1% for ID. Twenty-two percent had borderline intellectual functioning. A substantial rate of overlap between the NDDs was found. The combined NDD group had an earlier onset of antisocial behavior, had more aggressive behavior and lower school achievements than the non-NDD group. The results highlight the need for prison and probation services to be attentive of and screen for neurodevelopmental disorders in young violent offenders.
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- Cavonius-Rintahaka, Diana, et al.
(author)
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Health, functionality, and social support in families with a child with a neurodevelopmental disorder - a pilot study
- 2019
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In: Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment. - 1178-2021. ; 15, s. 1151-1161
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Introduction: Several studies have reported that having a child with a neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD) increases parental stress and that parental psychosocial functioning influences child's development and behavior. It is unclear how parents of children with NDD experience family functionality, family health and receive support and if there are differences between experiences of mothers and fathers. Methods: Families with children referred to a neurocognitive unit were invited to the study. A modified version of the FAmily Functionality, HEalth, and Social support (FAFHES) questionnaire was used. Open-ended questions were also included. Results: Parents rated their social support lower than their family functionality and family health. Family functionality correlated positively with family health. No significant differences were found between mothers' and fathers' experiences. A three-months test-retest using the FAFHES showed no significant change in ratings of family functionality, family health, and social support. Conclusions: Family functionality was connected to family health in families with a child with NDD. Mothers and fathers experienced their family health, family functionality, and received social support in similar ways.
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4. |
- Davidsson, Maria, 1990, et al.
(author)
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Anxiety and depression in adolescents with ADHD and autism spectrum disorders; correlation between parent- and self-reports and with attention and adaptive functioning.
- 2017
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In: Nordic journal of psychiatry. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1502-4725 .- 0803-9488. ; 71:8, s. 614-620
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactive disorder (ADHD) or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are at high risk of anxiety and depression. This is important to identify in the clinical assessment to understand its impact.The aim of this study is to investigate the correlation between parent- and self-reports of anxiety and depression in adolescents with ADHD or ASD, as well as the correlation with adaptive functioning and performance on an attention test.A total of 65 adolescents with an ADHD diagnosis (n=24) or an ASD diagnosis (n=41) filled out Beck Youth Inventories of Emotional and Social Impairment (BYI) to assess depression and anxiety and completed a Continuous Performance Test (QbTest) measuring ADHD symptoms. Parents of the participants completed the internalizing domain in the Five to Fifteen questionnaire (FTF), measuring symptoms of anxiety and depression, and the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS) about the adolescent's adaptive functioning.Approximately a third of the study group self-reported substantial internalizing mental symptoms not always recognized by parents, and not always obvious in adaptive function or performance at ADHD test. Correlations between BYI and FTF were low. The BYI depression inventory correlated negatively with VABS and positively with activity level in a subgroup medicated for ADHD. There was a stronger correlation between girls BYI and FTF results as compared with boys.The results highlight the need for identification of anxiety and depression, using both self- and parent report. Present anxiety and depression symptoms do not seem to affect the clinical assessment of ASD and ADHD.
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5. |
- Delfin, Carl, 1986, et al.
(author)
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Examining Associations Between Psychopathic Traits and Executive Functions in Incarcerated Violent Offenders
- 2018
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In: Frontiers in Psychiatry. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 1664-0640. ; 9
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Executive functions (EFs) are essential in almost all aspects of daily life and have been robustly related to antisocial behavior. However, the relationship between psychopathy and EFs has remained equivocal. Research investigating lower-level trait dimensions of psychopathy using standardized EF measures could be beneficial in addressing this issue. In this study, we examined associations between four EFs and four dimensions of psychopathic traits (interpersonal, affective, lifestyle, antisocial) using zero-order correlation and a combination of classical and Bayesian statistical methods. Two hundred and fourteen incarcerated male violent offenders were assessed with the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised and completed tests of cognitive flexibility, spatial working memory, response inhibition, and planning and problem-solving using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery. Lifestyle psychopathic traits were significantly associated with reduced initial thinking time in a planning and problem-solving task, with a Bayes factor indicating substantial evidence for the observed correlation, and antisocial psychopathic traits showed a significant association with reduced initial thinking time in the same task, although the Bayes factor indicated only anecdotal evidence. Significant associations were also found between affective and antisocial psychopathic traits and less efficient strategic thinking in a spatial working memory task, and between affective, lifestyle and antisocial psychopathic traits and fewer problems solved in a planning and problem-solving task, although these findings were not corroborated by the Bayesian analysis. While the observed effects ranged between small and medium, our study suggests that reduced initial thinking times in planning and problem-solving is robustly associated with higher degrees of lifestyle and antisocial psychopathic traits.
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- Fernandes, Lucrecia Cabral, et al.
(author)
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Aspects of Sexuality in Adolescents and Adults Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders in Childhood.
- 2016
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In: Journal of autism and developmental disorders. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1573-3432 .- 0162-3257. ; 46:9, s. 3155-3165
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The literature concerning sexuality in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) is limited regarding inappropriate sexual behaviours and paraphilias and its relation to age, verbal ability, symptom severity, intellectual ability, or adaptive functioning. A cohort of 184 adolescents and young adults (ages 15-39years) with ASD diagnosed in childhood, including both low and high functioning individuals, was examined. The large majority were found to have a sexual interest and showed interest towards the opposite sex. Inappropriate sexual behaviours and paraphilias were reported for about a fourth of the individuals. No relationships were found between inappropriate sexual behaviours and any of the background variables listed above. However, associations were found between paraphilias and ASD symptom severity, intellectual ability, and adaptive functioning.
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8. |
- Frost, Morgan, et al.
(author)
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Social scene perception in autism spectrum disorder: An eye-tracking and pupillometric study
- 2019
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In: Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1380-3395 .- 1744-411X. ; 41:10, s. 1024-1032
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Typically, developing humans innately place subjective value on social information and orient attention to it. This can be shown through tracking of gaze patterns and pupil size, the latter of which taps into an individual's cognitive engagement and affective arousal. People with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) present with atypical social, communicative and behavioral patterns, but underlying substrates of these behavioral differences remain unclear. Moreover, due to high comorbidity with other neurodevelopmental disorders, it is often difficult to distinguish which differences are distinctive to ASD. In this study, a group of 35 adolescents and young adults with neurodevelopmental disorders were tested to investigate the processing of social and non-social scenes in individuals who meet the diagnostic criteria for autism and those who do not. Eye tracking and pupillometry measures were collected while participants observed images of tightly controlled natural scenes with or without a human being. Contrary to individuals without autism diagnosis, participants with autism did not show greater pupillary response to images with a human. Participants with autism were slower to fixate on social elements in the social scenes, and this latency metric correlated with clinical measures of poor social functioning. The results confirm the clinical relevance of eye-tracking and pupillometric indices in the field of ASD. We discuss the clinical implications of the results and propose that analysis of changes in visual attention and physiological level to social stimuli might be an integral part of a neurodevelopmental assessment.
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- Galazka, Martyna A, 1984, et al.
(author)
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Pupillary Contagion in Autism.
- 2019
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In: Psychological science. - : SAGE Publications. - 1467-9280 .- 0956-7976. ; 30:2, s. 309-315
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Pupillary contagion is an involuntary change in the observer's pupil size in response to the pupil size of another person. This effect, presumed to be an important adaption for individuals living in groups, has been documented in both typical infants and adults. Here, for the first time, we report pupillary contagion in individuals with autism, a disorder of social communication. We found that, compared with a typical group ( n = 63), individuals with autism ( n = 54) exhibited comparable pupillary contagion when observing pictures of emotional faces, despite less spontaneous attention toward the eye region. Furthermore, the magnitude of the pupillary response in the autism group was negatively correlated with time spent fixating the eye region. The results suggest that even with less looking toward the eyes, individuals with autism respond to the affective and arousal levels transmitted from other individuals. These results are discussed in the context of an overarousal account of socioaffective-processing differences in autism.
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10. |
- Gillberg, Christopher, 1950, et al.
(author)
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Extreme ("pathological") demand avoidance in autism: a general population study in the Faroe Islands.
- 2015
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In: European child & adolescent psychiatry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1435-165X .- 1018-8827. ; 24:8, s. 979-984
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Research into Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA), which has been suggested to be a subgroup within the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), is almost nonexistent in spite of the frequent reference to the condition in clinical practice. The total population of 15 to 24-year-olds in the Faroe Islands was screened for ASD, and 67 individuals were identified who met diagnostic criteria for ASD (corresponding to a general population prevalence of ASD of almost 1%). Of these 67, 50 had parents who were interviewed using the Diagnostic Interview for Social and Communication Disorders (DISCO-11) which contains 15 "PDA-specific" items. Nine individuals met criteria for "possible clinical diagnosis of PDA", meaning that almost one in five of all with ASD also had indications of having had PDA in childhood, and that 0.18% of the total population had had the combination of ASD and PDA. However, at the time of assessment, only one of the 9 individuals with possible PDA still met "full criteria". PDA possibly constitutes a considerable minority of all cases with ASD diagnosed in childhood, but criteria for the condition are unlikely to be still met in later adolescence and early adult life.
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