Autism and pervasive developmental disorders.
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Thirty 6- to 9-year-old boys were rated by their mothers and teachers as being pervasively hyperactive, situationally hyperactive, or not hyperactive at home or school. Maternal characteristics and perceptions of their children's behavior problems were collected. Children's global and molecular social skills were also assessed in a role-play format. Mothers of pervasive hyperactive boys reported significantly more overall stress in their relationship with their child and perceived their sons as displaying more behavioral problems compared to mothers of situational hyperactive and nonhyperactive children. Mothers of pervasive hyperactive boys also rated themselves as more depressed, less competent, more restricted, and frustrated compared to control mothers. Mothers of situational hyperactive children indicated that their sons displayed more behavior problems and reported more maternal stress compared to mothers of normal controls. Normal controls were rated as overall more socially skilled than situational hyperactive boys. The utility of the pervasive and situational hyperactivity distinction is discussed.
As many as six in every 1000 children may be affected by an autistic spectrum disorder. Characterised by a triad of social communication difficulties, these children exhibit impairment in communication and socialisation, and restricted and repetitive interests, movements and activities. This article will discuss the distinction between autism, Asperger's syndrome and pervasive developmental disorder. Assessment should include a history of the child's development, observation, school report and a profile of the child's strengths and weaknesses. However, it is important that potential differential diagnoses as well as conditions associated with autism are also considered. Differential diagnoses, management and possible causes of autistic spectrum disorders will be discussed in more detail in next month's Clinical Updates.
From a sample of 35 child therapy sessions, 3 of the highest and 3 of the lowest quality sessions (HQS and LQS) were identified by independent ratings on the Loyola Child Psychotherapy Process Scales. Each of the 535 therapist-utterances in the HQS and the 372 therapist-utterances in the LQS were rated on 15 language interaction scales. Principal-components P-technique analyses were applied separately to the HQS and LQS, revealing 3 factors, Responsive Informing (RI), Initiatory Questioning (IQ), and Positive Regard (PR), that seemed to correspond across session types. Using confirmatory P-technique, a general measurement model with acceptable goodness-of-fit was determined for HQS. Two factors emerged: RI and IQ but not PR. Using a bootstrap procedure, random halves of the HQS were repeatedly sampled and compared via multigroup confirmatory factor analysis to create a reference distribution of the magnitudes of their difference chi-squares. Random resamples of HQS and LQS were then compared, resulting in a second reference distribution. Statistical tests and effect-size measures revealed replicable and large differences between sessions types.
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The objective of this literature review is to assess the validity of autistic spectrum disorders (ASD). Twenty papers were identified that adequately investigated the internal or external validity of various subtypes of ASD. At least three groups can be distinguished from autism on clinical grounds; an Asperger syndrome subtype, and two atypical subtypes characterized by low IQ and high IQ. However, the evidence that these clinical distinctions carry inferences with respect to etiology, clinical course, and treatment is only suggestive. Nevertheless, the specification of several ASD subtypes might promote further research and resolve many of the nosologic issues with respect to the classification of pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs).
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The breastfeeding rates for 50 children with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) from North Dakota's roster of PDD patients were compared with the national average and with the rates for a control group matched for age, sex, and IQ. In addition, the breastfeeding rates for the normal siblings of the PDD and control groups were compared with the national average to help determine whether the lower breastfeeding rate among PDD patients was a function of parenting practices. The breastfeeding rates for the PDD and control groups were not significantly different from each other, but both were significantly lower than the national average. The breastfeeding rate for the normal siblings of PDD children was almost identical to the national average, but the rate for the siblings of the matched control group was significantly lower than the national average. These results are discussed in terms of hypotheses regarding the early parent-child interactions and characteristics in the families of PDD children.
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Three groups of kindergarten-aged children referred for hyperactivity who varied with regard to symptom pervasiveness were compared to each other and to normal controls on a variety of biological, psychological and behavioural variables. The findings yielded only partial support for those of other studies addressing this issue. Biological and psychological test data did not differentiate the various groups of children. The clearest differentiation between groups emerged when children were observed directly. The findings are discussed with respect to the usefulness of the distinction of pervasive and situational symptomatology and the problems of diagnosis with children in this age group.
The authors compared children with Asperger syndrome (AS) with high-functioning autistic children and psychiatric outpatient controls on measures of early history and outcome. In terms of their early history, the autistic probands showed more social impairment, a higher frequency of echolalia and pronoun reversal, and a more restricted range of activities than the AS group. Cluster analysis suggested refinements to the diagnostic criteria, which resulted in larger differences between the groups on these early history measures. In terms of their outcome, the autistic probands spent more time in special education classes but developed fewer accessory psychiatric symptoms than the AS children. It was clear, however, that there were no substantive, qualitative differences between the AS and autistic groups, indicating that AS should be considered a mild form of high-functioning autism. The inclusion of AS among the autistic spectrum of disorders has implications both for aetiological studies and for prevalence estimates of the pervasive developmental disorders.
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The present study examined attachment behavior in children with autism and children with other developmental or psychiatric disorders. The groups were matched on chronological and mental age, IQ, and socioeconomic status. When a modified Strange Situation paradigm was used, no group differences were found in proximity seeking, contact maintenance, proximity avoidance, or contact resistance; the groups also did not differ in their overall security ratings. Attachment security was related to several developmental variables in the autistic group but not in the nonautistic comparison group. This suggests that attachment formation may involve different processes in autistic children than in nonautistic children of equivalent intellectual level.
OBJECTIVE: Pervasive developmental disorders, exemplified by autism, constitute clinical entities which require the attention of child neurologists. DEVELOPMENT: The increasing frequency with which these disorders are diagnosed supports the need to review and bring up to date the available data, so as to achieve good practice. CONCLUSIONS: There are many studies and initiatives to orient the child neurologist as to the steps to be taken regarding aspects such as early identification, association with known syndromes, genetic counselling and medical advice in general, neuroimaging techniques, treatment of possible associated epilepsy and use of psychotropic drugs. All these elements have to be incorporated into an overall individualized program which, at the present time, has to be basically educational and rehabilitation, so as to attain maximum self sufficiency and social participation.