scholarly journals Psychometric Evaluation of the Short Sensory Profile in Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (12) ◽  
pp. 4231-4249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary J. Williams ◽  
Michelle D. Failla ◽  
Katherine O. Gotham ◽  
Tiffany G. Woynaroski ◽  
Carissa Cascio
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aline Lefebvre ◽  
Julian Tillmann ◽  
Freddy Cliquet ◽  
Frederique Amsellem ◽  
Anna Maruani ◽  
...  

Abstract Background. Sensory processing atypicalities are part of the core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and could result from an excitation/inhibition imbalance. Yet, the convergence level of phenotypic sensory processing atypicalities with genetic alterations in GABA-ergic and glutamatergic pathways remains poorly understood. This study aimed to characterize the distribution of hypo/hyper-sensory profile among individuals with ASD and investigate the role of deleterious mutations in GABAergic and glutamatergic pathways related genes in sensory processing atypicalities. Method. From the Short Sensory Profile (SSP) questionnaire, we defined and explored a score – the differential Short Sensory Profile (dSSP) - as a normalized and centralized hypo/hypersensitivity ratio for 1136 participants (533 with ASD, 210 first-degree relatives, and 267 controls) from two independent study samples (PARIS and LEAP). We also performed an unsupervised item-based clustering analysis on SSP items scores to validate this new categorization in terms of hypo and hyper sensitivity. We then explored the link between the dSSP score and the burden of deleterious mutations in a subset of individuals for which whole-genome sequencing data were available. Results. We observed a mean dSSP score difference between ASD and controls, driven mostly by a high dSSP score variability among groups (PARIS: p<0.0001, η2 = 0.0001, LEAP: p<0.0001, Cohen’s d=3.67). First-degree relatives were with an intermediate distribution variability profile (p<0.0001). We also reported a positive developmental trajectory of the dSSP score (PARIS: p=0.0006, η2 = 0.02; LEAP: p=0.01, η2 = 0.01). Clusters were similarly characterized by hypo- and hyper-sensitivity items in both study samples (Cramer's V from 0.64 to 0.69, p<0.05). Our genetic analysis showed a trend only for an association with mutations of the GABAergic pathway.Limitations. The major limitation was the dSSP score difficulty to discriminate subjects with a similar quantum of hypo- and hyper- sensory symptoms to those with no such symptoms, resulting both in a similar ratio score of 0.Conclusion. The dSSP score could be a relevant clinical score of the hypo/hyper-sensory individual profile in subjects with ASD. Combined with additional sensory domain characteristics, genetics and endophenotypic substrates, the dSSP score will offer new avenues to explore the underlying neurobiological mechanisms of sensory processing atypicalities in ASD.


2020 ◽  
pp. 44-57
Author(s):  
Yu. V. Vakulenko

The article describes and analyzes the questionnaire “Short Sensory Profile (SSP)”. The original variant of the Profile, its features and advantages in using as a diagnostic tool and as an informational material describing for parents the specifics of their children’s disorders are described. The impaired processing and integration of sensory information characteristic for healthy children and children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is examined. Attention is drawn that sensory features and its violations characteristic for healthy and ASD children should be researched with a Ukrainian sample. The results of SSP adaptation and validation with the sample of Ukrainian children are presented. The questionnaire was translated into Ukrainian language from the original one (English) by a professional interpreter. The adapted version passed an asymmetrical translation, which helped to preserve the meanings of used statements and comply with the requirements of language clarity and certainty. The parents of 506 children (293 healthy children and 213 children with autism spectrum disorder) took part in the questionnaire adaptation; they filled the questionnaire about their children’s sensory patterns. Children were further divided into 6 groups by age and the presence / absence of a diagnosed autism spectrum disorder. Excel 2016 was used to calculate the scores, and IBM SPSS v.23 statistical application was used to check the psychometric characteristics of the questionnaire. The SSP psychometric characteristics, such as internal consistency of the statements, retest reliability, obvious validity, validity by the criteria and constructive validity, were at high and sufficient levels. The procedure and interpretation of the study results were standardized. For this, the frequency distribution was calculated by the general indicator and additionally by age groups to determine the severity of sensory disturbances in children and adolescents. According to the results of frequency distribution, the overall distribution of scores was determined, which gave the possibility to determine the presence and severity of the violations in processing and integration of sensory information by children and adolescents.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ariel Maia Lyons-Warren ◽  
Ying-Wooi Wan

Abstract Background: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impairment in social interactions and communication. Additional features include restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviors, and differences in sensory processing. The clinical presentation of patients with ASD is heterogeneous, likely reflecting multiple underlying etiologies. Heterogeneity in presentation and treatment response are barriers to development of precise therapeutic approaches. Therefore, identification of clinically meaningful subgroups within ASD is critical to develop targeted interventions. We hypothesized that sensory features can be used to identify clinically recognizable subgroups with shared underlying etiologies. Methods: Subjects included 378 individuals with a clinical diagnosis of ASD who contributed Short Sensory Profile (SSP) data assessing the frequency of sensory behaviors and whole genome sequencing results to the Autism Speaks’ MSSNG database. To determine if the SSP could be used to subgroup individuals with ASD, we performed cluster analysis on responses to all 38 questions, followed by an independent cluster analysis using only a subset of questions selected specifically to assay hyper- and hypo-sensitivity to sensory stimulation. Cross-validation of the resulting clusters determined the final subgroups. To test for shared underlying etiologies, we correlated variant frequency across subgroups for each of 24,896 genes. Variant frequency included any variation in each gene regardless of the type of variant. To be significantly associated with a subgroup, a gene variant frequency had to be greater than four standard deviations (SD) from the mean frequency for all subgroups and 3 SD different from each subgroup.Results: We identified seven distinct sensory-based ASD subgroups. Subgroup 1, characterized by atypical scores in all sensory areas, was not associated with any genes. Subgroups 2, 4 and 6 were significantly associated with four to six genes each. Subgroups 3, 5 and 7 were enriched for 126, 12 and 50 genes, respectively. Limitations: This study was performed using retrospective data that did not include other phenotypic data such as age, comorbidities, or measures of disease severity. All those likely contribute to the variability of the identified subgroupsConclusions: These results support the use of sensory features to identify ASD subgroups with shared genetic mechanisms.


2020 ◽  
pp. 088307382096716
Author(s):  
Adel Farhi ◽  
Saralee Glasser ◽  
Lidia V. Gabis ◽  
Galit Hirsh-Yechezkel ◽  
Shay Frank ◽  
...  

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess major neurodevelopmental aspects of children conceived by assisted reproductive treatments compared to spontaneously conceived children during the early school years. Material & Methods: In this follow-up study, mothers of 358 children born following assisted reproductive treatments and 401 spontaneously-conceived children were interviewed by telephone regarding their children’s health and development, when the children were 7-8 years old. The main outcomes were maternal responses to 4 questionnaires: Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire, Short Sensory Profile, Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire, and the Attention-deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) Child Symptom Inventory-4 subscale. Mothers reported diagnoses of ADHD and autism spectrum disorder. Results: No significant differences were found between the groups in Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire or Short Sensory Profile scores upon univariate or multivariable analyses. There was a slightly higher but nonsignificant rate of diagnosed ADHD among children in the assisted reproductive treatment group (9.6% vs 5.5%; P = .18); on multivariable analysis, a nonsignificant increase in ADHD was also found for assisted reproductive treatment children (hazard ratio 1.45, 95% confidence interval 0.81-2.61). Regarding the Child Symptom Inventory-4 criteria for ADHD among the children who had never been diagnosed, there was also a slightly higher but nonsignificant rate among the assisted reproductive treatments compared to spontaneously-conceived children on univariate (2.4% vs 1.8%; P = .50) and multivariable analysis (odds ratio 0.88, 95% confidence interval 0.27-2.86). Autism spectrum disorder diagnosis or Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire scores were not significantly different; however, 5 of the 6 children with autism spectrum disorder diagnoses were in the assisted reproductive treatment group. Conclusions: Neurodevelopmental measures were similar in both groups, although nonconclusive regarding ADHD and autism spectrum disorder risk. These findings contribute to the knowledge regarding long-term assisted reproductive treatment outcomes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 95
Author(s):  
Frank van den Boogert ◽  
Bram Sizoo ◽  
Pascalle Spaan ◽  
Sharon Tolstra ◽  
Yvonne H. A. Bouman ◽  
...  

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may be accompanied by aggressive behavior and is associated with sensory processing difficulties. The present study aims to investigate the direct association between sensory processing and aggressive behavior in adults with ASD. A total of 101 Dutch adult participants with ASD, treated in outpatient or inpatient facilities, completed the Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile (AASP), the Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire (RPQ), and the Aggression Questionnaire—Short Form (AQ-SF). Results revealed that sensory processing difficulties are associated with more aggressive behavior (f2=0.25), more proactive (f2=0.19) and reactive aggression (f2=0.27), more physical (f2=0.08) and verbal aggression (f2=0.13), and more anger (f2=0.20) and hostility (f2=0.12). Evidence was found for an interaction of the neurological threshold and behavioral response on total aggression and hostility. Participants with higher scores in comparison to the norm group in sensory sensitivity had the highest risk of aggressive behavior. In conclusion, clinical practice may benefit from applying detailed diagnostics on sensory processing difficulties when treating aggressive behavior in adults with ASD.


Author(s):  
Ana Gentil-Gutiérrez ◽  
José Luis Cuesta-Gómez ◽  
Paula Rodríguez-Fernández ◽  
Jerónimo Javier González-Bernal

(1) Background: Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) frequently have difficulties in processing sensory information, which is a limitation when participating in different contexts, such as school. The objective of the present study was to compare the sensory processing characteristics of children with ASD in the natural context of school through the perception of professionals in the field of education, in comparison with neurodevelopmental children (2) Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study as conducted with study population consisting of children between three and ten years old, 36 of whom were diagnosed with ASD and attended the Autismo Burgos association; the remaining 24 had neurotypical development. The degree of response of the children to sensory stimuli at school was evaluated using the Sensory Profile-2 (SP-2) questionnaire in its school version, answered by the teachers. (3) Results: Statistically significant differences were found in sensory processing patterns (p = 0.001), in sensory systems (p = 0.001) and in school factors (p = 0.001). Children with ASD who obtained worse results. (4) Conclusions: Children with ASD are prone to present sensory alterations in different contexts, giving nonadapted behavioral and learning responses.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 185-201
Author(s):  
Ana Roknić ◽  
Sanja Vuković

Introduction. Sensory processing is a neurobiological process in which a person uses their senses, sends information to an appropriate reception and processing center, and responds to environmental stimulations. Previous research has shown that sensory processing difficulties are more common among people with autism spectrum disorder than among people of the typical population. Objectives. The aim of this paper was to determine the patterns of sensory processing in subjects of the typical population and subjects with autism spectrum disorder, as well as gender and age differences in sensory profiles in these groups of subjects. Methods. Using The Child Sensory Profile 2 as the measuring instrument, the characteristics of sensory processing were examined in 120 subjects of both genders, 60 subjects with autism spectrum disorder and 60 subjects of typical development, ages three to 13 years and 11 months. Results. The obtained results show that there are differences between the two groups of respondents and that these differences occur in all nine subscales of the instrument. It was found that subjects with autismspectrumdisorder hadmore difficulty in processing sensory information compared to subjects of the typical population, especially in the domain of tactile perception. The results also show that the quality of sensory information processing in both groups of respondents improved with age. In relation to the respondents' gender, the obtained differences were significant in the domain of the total score of the instrument, in favor of the boys, but this was not observed in the measurements on all subscales. Conclusion. In accordance with the above findings, when creating an individual educational plan, it is necessary to take into account all the specifics of sensory processing of children with autism spectrum disorder.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (11) ◽  
pp. 5617-5625
Author(s):  
Kiwamu Matsuoka ◽  
Manabu Makinodan ◽  
Soichiro Kitamura ◽  
Masato Takahashi ◽  
Hiroaki Yoshikawa ◽  
...  

Abstract In autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the complexity-specific hypothesis explains that atypical visual processing is attributable to selective functional changes in visual pathways. We investigated dendritic microstructures and their associations with functional connectivity (FC). Participants included 28 individuals with ASD and 29 typically developed persons. We explored changes in neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) and brain areas whose FC was significantly correlated with NODDI parameters in the explored regions of interests. Individuals with ASD showed significantly higher orientation dispersion index (ODI) values in the left occipital gyrus (OG) corresponding to the secondary visual cortex (V2). FC values between the left OG and the left middle temporal gyrus (MTG) were significantly negatively correlated with mean ODI values. The mean ODI values in the left OG were significantly positively associated with low registration of the visual quadrants of the Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile (AASP), resulting in a significant positive correlation with passive behavioral responses of the AASP visual quadrants; additionally, the FC values between the left OG and the left MTG were significantly negatively associated with reciprocal social interaction. Our results suggest that abnormal V2 dendritic arborization is associated with atypical visual processing by altered intermediation in the ventral visual pathway.


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