Abstract The overall international prevalence of Tourette syndrome (TS) is 1% in the majority of cultures of the world. Both TS and tics are certainly more obvious and may be more common in younger ...people. Moreover, TS is seen less frequently in some cultures. However, in all cultures where it has been reported, the phenomenology is similar, highlighting the biological underpinnings of the disorder. This article reviews the international prevalence, epidemiology, and clinical phenomenology of TS, from a cross-cultural perspective.
To better understand and promote public health, participatory research with Indigenous peoples represents recommended practice, worldwide. However, due to the different ways such research is referred ...to, described, and used, it is unclear what might (and might not) warrant the term when collaborating with Indigenous peoples. As such, this article expands conceptual understandings of participatory research with Indigenous peoples, across timelines and regions.
Following a systematic search of 29 academic databases in April 2018, a lexical analysis of the methods sections was conducted, which were sourced from 161 publications across 107 journals.
The active involvement of Indigenous peoples in research that is expressly participatory is limited across all project phases. This might be because the ways in which Indigenous peoples were involved throughout were not reported - however, it might also be because Indigenous peoples were not involved in all project phases. Furthermore, descriptions differ by study location and publication timeframe - notably, studies in the region of the Americas chiefly refer to pandemics, surveyors, and art; and those published in the last two decades have given primacy to artifacts of interest.
Findings from this corpus of data suggest participatory research with Indigenous peoples is not always described across different project phases; furthermore, it differs according to study location and publication timeframe. This offers considerable opportunity to further this important research area via alternative methodologies that award primacy to Indigenous expertise and agency.
Objectives
Disruptive behaviors in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or developmental delay are common, persistent and cause distress to families. Parent–Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) ...may be an effective intervention with emerging evidence to support its use for children with at-risk development. We aimed to investigate the effectiveness of standard PCIT for young children (2–4 years) with disruptive behaviors and signs of ASD and/or developmental delay, treated in a real-world clinical setting. We hypothesized that there would be a reduction in disruptive behaviors and for parents, a reduction in depressive symptoms.
Methods
This was a retrospective file-review study of 236 referrals to a toddler clinic over a 17-month period (January 2016 to May 2017). Disruptive child behavior (EBCI Intensity scale and ECBI Problem scale) and maternal depression (EDS score) severity were analyzed across two time conditions (pre-treatment and post-treatment) using linear mixed models with repeated measures, including time, child ASD risk status and their interaction as main effects. An identical linear mixed models with repeated measures analysis was subsequently conducted using clinician identified concern about the child’s development as the between subjects factor.
Results
Disruptive child behavior for children at-risk of autism (high SCQ score) and for those with low SCQ scores, improved on average into the non-clinical range. Parental EDS scores reduced in the both groups, but reduced by a greater degree in the children at-risk of autism (high SCQ) group.
Conclusions
This study suggests that children at-risk of autism and developmental delay should not be excluded from PCIT, an evidence-based intervention for disruptive behaviors, as there is potential benefit for both children and parents.
Highlights
Standard PCIT reduced disruptive behavior for children at-risk of autism or developmental delay.
Parental EDS scores reduced overall, by a greater degree for parents with a child at-risk of autism.
PCIT may be effective for children at-risk of autism or developmental delay, and for their parents’ depressive symptoms.
Atypical visual attention in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has been utilised as a unique diagnosis criterion in previous research. This paper presents a novel approach to the ...automatic and quantitative screening of ASD as well as symptom severity prediction in preschool children. We develop a novel computational pipeline that extracts learned features from a dynamic visual stimulus to classify ASD children and predict the level of ASD-related symptoms. Experimental results demonstrate promising performance that is superior to using handcrafted features and machine learning algorithms, in terms of evaluation metrics used in diagnostic tests. Using a leave-one-out cross-validation approach, we obtained an accuracy of 94.59%, a sensitivity of 100%, a specificity of 76.47% and an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 96% for ASD classification. In addition, we obtained an accuracy of 94.74%, a sensitivity of 87.50%, a specificity of 100% and an AUC of 99% for ASD symptom severity prediction.
Tourette syndrome (TS) is more than having motor and vocal tics, and this review will examine the varied comorbidities as well as the social impact and quality of life (QoL) in individuals with TS. ...The relationship between any individual and his/her environment is complex, and this is further exaggerated in the case of a person with TS. For example, tics may play a significant role in shaping the person's experiences, perceptions, and interactions with the environment. Furthermore, associated clinical features, comorbidities, and coexisting psychopathologies may compound or alter this relationship. In this regard, the common comorbidities include attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and disruptive behaviors, obsessive compulsive disorder, and autism spectrum disorder, and coexistent problems include anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem, which can all lead to poorer psychosocial functioning and QoL. Thus, the symptoms of TS and the associated comorbid conditions may interact to result in a vicious cycle or a downward spiraling of negative experiences and poor QoL. The stigma and social maladjustment in TS and the social exclusion, bullying, and discrimination are considered to be caused in large part by misperceptions of the disorder by teachers, peers, and the wider community. Improved community and professional awareness about TS and related comorbidities and other psychopathologies as well as the provision of multidisciplinary services to meet the complex needs of this clinical population are critical. Future research to inform the risk and resilience factors for successful long-term outcomes is also warranted.
We aim to describe the Australian child and adolescent mental health system, which has its historical origins in the child guidance clinic, with recent efforts at modernisation to meet community ...needs and major policy innovations, including the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and expansion of digital/telehealth services. Shared funding/responsibility across commonwealth and state/territory governments has resulted in country-wide variations, allowing innovation but also introducing fragmentation and duplication. The increase in demand outstripping supply (which was exacerbated by workforce shortages resulting from the pandemic), the lack of robust evaluation, and poor service integration (which make navigation difficult for families) are ongoing challenges.
Psychiatric symptoms are seen in some COVID-19 patients, as direct or indirect sequelae, but it is unclear whether SARS-CoV-2 infection interacts with underlying neuronal or psychiatric ...susceptibilities. Such interactions might arise from COVID-19 immune responses, from infection of neurons themselves or may reflect social-psychological causes. To clarify this we sought the key gene expression pathways altered in COVID-19 also affected in bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and schizophrenia, since this may identify pathways of interaction that could be treatment targets. We performed large scale comparisons of whole transcriptome data and immune factor transcript data in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from COVID-19 patients and patients with psychiatric disorders. We also analysed genome-wide association study (GWAS) data for symptomatic COVID-19 patients, comparing GWAS and whole-genome sequence data from patients with bipolar disorder, PTSD and schizophrenia patients. These studies revealed altered signalling and ontology pathways shared by COVID-19 patients and the three psychiatric disorders. Finally, co-expression and network analyses identified gene clusters common to the conditions. COVID-19 patients had peripheral blood immune system profiles that overlapped with those of patients with psychiatric conditions. From the pathways identified, PTSD profiles were the most highly correlated with COVID-19, perhaps consistent with stress-immune system interactions seen in PTSD. We also revealed common inflammatory pathways that may exacerbate psychiatric disorders, which may support the usage of anti-inflammatory medications in these patients. It also highlights the potential clinical application of multi-level dataset studies in difficult-to-treat psychiatric disorders in this COVID-19 pandemic.
Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have heterogeneous comorbid conditions. This study examined whether comorbid conditions in ASD are associated with polygenic risk scores (PRS) of ASD ...or PRS of comorbid conditions in non-ASD specific populations. Genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data were obtained from 1386 patients with ASD from the Autism Genetic Resource Exchange (AGRE) study. After excluding individuals with missing clinical information concerning comorbid conditions, a total of 707 patients were included in the study. A total of 18 subgroups of comorbid conditions ('topics') were identified using a machine learning algorithm, topic modeling. PRS for ASD were computed using a genome-wide association meta-analysis of 18,381 cases and 27,969 controls. From these 18 topics, Topic 6 (over-represented by allergies) (p = 1.72 × 10
) and Topic 17 (over-represented by sensory processing issues such as low pain tolerance) (p = 0.037) were associated with PRS of ASD. The associations between these two topics and the multi-locus contributors to their corresponding comorbid conditions based on non-ASD specific populations were further explored. The results suggest that these two topics were not associated with the PRS of allergies and chronic pain disorder, respectively. Note that characteristics of the present AGRE sample and those samples used in the original GWAS for ASD, allergies, and chronic pain disorder, may differ due to significant clinical heterogeneity that exists in the ASD population. Additionally, the AGRE sample may be underpowered and therefore insensitive to weak PRS associations due to a relatively small sample size. Findings imply that susceptibility genes of ASD may contribute more to the occurrence of allergies and sensory processing issues in individuals with ASD, compared with the susceptibility genes for their corresponding phenotypes in non-ASD individuals. Since these comorbid conditions (i.e., allergies and pain sensory issues) may not be attributable to the corresponding comorbidity-specific biological factors in non-ASD individuals, clinical management for these comorbid conditions may still depend on treatments for core symptoms of ASD.
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are highly heritable, yet genetically heterogeneous neurodevelopmental conditions. Recent genome-wide association and gene expression studies have provided evidence ...supporting the notion that the large number of genetic variants associated with ASD converge toward a core set of dysregulated biological processes. Here we review recent data demonstrating the involvement of synaptic dysfunction and abnormal immune responses in ASD, and discuss the functional interplay between the two phenomena.
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