scholarly journals Anxiety in young people with autism spectrum disorder: Common and autism-related anxiety experiences and their associations with individual characteristics

Autism ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 1111-1126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boon Yen Lau ◽  
Ruth Leong ◽  
Mirko Uljarevic ◽  
Jian Wei Lerh ◽  
Jacqui Rodgers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Anxiety Scale ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Environmental Disasters ◽  
Diagnostic And Statistical Manual ◽  
Children’S Anxiety ◽  
Spence Children’S Anxiety Scale ◽  
Original Measure

Anxiety is common in autism spectrum disorder. Many anxiety symptoms in autism spectrum disorder are consistent with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.) anxiety disorders (termed “common” anxieties), but others may be qualitatively different, likely relating to autism spectrum disorder traits (herein termed “autism-related” anxieties). To date, few studies have examined both “common” and “autism-related” anxiety experiences in autism spectrum disorder. We explored caregiver-reported Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale-Parent version data from a multi-site (United Kingdom, Singapore, and United States) pooled database of 870 6- to 18-year-old participants with autism spectrum disorder, of whom 287 provided at least one written response to the optional open-ended Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale-Parent item 39 (“ Is there anything else your child is afraid of?”). Responses were thematically coded to explore (a) common and autism-related anxiety presentations and (b) their relationship with young people’s characteristics. Nearly half of the responses were autism-related anxieties (mostly sensory, uncommon, or idiosyncratic specific phobias and worries about change and unpredictability). The other half described additional common anxieties not covered in the original measure (mostly social, weather and environmental disasters, and animals). Caregivers of participants who were more severely affected by autism spectrum disorder symptoms reported more autism-related, as compared to common, additional anxieties. Implications for the assessment and understanding of anxiety in autism are discussed.

scholarly journals Parent-Child Agreement Using the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale and a Thermometer in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. May ◽  
K. Cornish ◽  
N. J. Rinehart
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Anxiety Scale ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Child Report ◽  
Children’S Anxiety ◽  
Spence Children’S Anxiety Scale

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) experience high anxiety which often prompts clinical referral and requires intervention. This study aimed to compare parent and child reports on the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale (SCAS) and a child-reported “worry thermometer” in 88 children aged 8–13 years, 44 with ASD and 44 age, gender, and perceptual IQ matched typically developing children. There were no gender differences in child report on the SCAS and worry thermometers. Results indicated generally good correlations between parent and child self-reported SCAS symptoms for typically developing children but poor agreement in parent-child ASD dyads. The worry thermometer child-report did not reflect child or parent reports on the SCAS. Findings suggest 8–13-year-old children with ASD may have difficulties accurately reporting their anxiety levels. The clinical implications were discussed.

The Influence of Language Context on Repetitive Speech Use in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 327-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison Gladfelter ◽  
Cassidy VanZuiden
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Receptive Vocabulary ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Social Responsiveness ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Language Context

Purpose Although repetitive speech is a hallmark characteristic of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the contributing factors that influence repetitive speech use remain unknown. The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine if the language context impacts the amount and type of repetitive speech produced by children with ASD. Method As part of a broader word-learning study, 11 school-age children with ASD participated in two different language contexts: storytelling and play. Previously collected language samples were transcribed and coded for four types of repetitive speech: immediate echolalia, delayed echolalia, verbal stereotypy, and vocal stereotypy. The rates and proportions of repetitive speech were compared across the two language contexts using Wilcoxon signed-ranks tests. Individual characteristics were further explored using Spearman correlations. Results The children produced lower rates of repetitive speech during the storytelling context than the play-based context. Only immediate echolalia differed between the two contexts based on rate and approached significance based on proportion, with more immediate echolalia produced in the play-based context than in the storytelling context. There were no significant correlations between repetitive speech and measures of social responsiveness, expressive or receptive vocabulary, or nonverbal intelligence. Conclusions The children with ASD produced less immediate echolalia in the storytelling context than in the play-based context. Immediate echolalia use was not related to social skills, vocabulary, or nonverbal IQ scores. These findings offer valuable insights into better understanding repetitive speech use in children with ASD.

scholarly journals Development of the anxiety scale for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASC-ASD)

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 1205-1215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqui Rodgers ◽  
Sarah Wigham ◽  
Helen McConachie ◽  
Mark Freeston ◽  
Emma Honey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Anxiety Scale ◽  
Spectrum Disorder

Individual characteristics of students with autism spectrum disorders and school refusal behavior

Autism ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 413-423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen Kathrine Munkhaugen ◽  
Tonje Torske ◽  
Elen Gjevik ◽  
Terje Nærland ◽  
Are Hugo Pripp ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Executive Functioning ◽  
Behavioral Problems ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
School Refusal ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Emotional And Behavioral Problems ◽  
School Refusal Behavior ◽  
Students With Autism

This study compared social, executive, emotional, and behavioral characteristics of students with autism spectrum disorder who did and did not display school refusal behavior. The participants were 62 students with autism spectrum disorder without intellectual disability aged 9–16 years attending inclusive schools. Parents first completed questionnaires assessing social and executive functioning as well as emotional and behavioral problems. They then documented their child’s school refusal behavior for a period of 20 days. Compared to students without school refusal behavior (n = 29), students with school refusal behavior (n = 33) were significantly less socially motivated; displayed more deficits in initiating tasks or activities, in generating ideas, responses, or problem-solving strategies; and displayed more withdrawn and depressive symptoms. Assessing social and executive functioning, as well as emotional problems, may help professionals provide tailored interventions for students with autism spectrum disorder and school refusal behavior, which will further be valuable in recognizing characteristics associated with school refusal behavior.

Structure, longitudinal invariance, and stability of the Child Behavior Checklist 1½–5’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders–Autism Spectrum Disorder scale: Findings from Generation R (Rotterdam)

Autism ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 223-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie A Rescorla ◽  
Akhgar Ghassabian ◽  
Masha Y Ivanova ◽  
Vincent WV Jaddoe ◽  
Frank C Verhulst ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Child Behavior ◽  
Child Behavior Checklist ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Statistical Manual ◽  
Diagnostic And Statistical Manual ◽  
Base Rates ◽  
Over Time

Although the Child Behavior Checklist 1½–5’s 12-item Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Autism Spectrum Problems Scale (formerly called Pervasive Developmental Problems scale) has been used in several studies as an autism spectrum disorder screener, the base rate and stability of its items and its measurement model have not been previously studied. We therefore examined the structure, longitudinal invariance, and stability of the Child Behavior Checklist 1½–5’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Autism Spectrum Problems Scale in the diverse Generation R (Rotterdam) sample based on mothers’ ratings at 18 months ( n = 4695), 3 years ( n = 4571), and 5 years ( n = 5752). Five items that seemed especially characteristic of autism spectrum disorder had low base rates at all three ages. The rank order of base rates for the 12 items was highly correlated over time ( Qs ⩾ 0.86), but the longitudinal stability of individual items was modest (phi coefficients = 0.15–0.34). Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the autism spectrum disorder scale model manifested configural, metric, and scalar longitudinal invariance over the time period from 18 months to 5 years, with large factor loadings. Correlations over time for observed autism spectrum disorder scale scores (0.25–0.50) were generally lower than the correlations across time of the latent factors (0.45–0.68). Results indicated significant associations of the autism spectrum disorder scale with later autism spectrum disorder diagnoses.

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