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Research
Caregiver broader autism phenotype does not moderate the effect of early caregiver-mediated support on infant language outcomesCaregiver-mediated supports in general have shown mixed evidence for enhancing language outcomes in infants at higher likelihood of autism. While caregivers play a substantial role in caregiver-mediated supports, little is known about whether caregivers' own subclinical autistic features - known as broader autism phenotype - may moderate infant language outcomes.
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Accuracy of a 2-minute eye-tracking assessment to differentiate young children with and without autismEye-tracking could expedite autism identification/diagnosis through standardisation and objectivity. We tested whether Gazefinder autism assessment, with Classification Algorithm derived from gaze fixation durations, would have good accuracy (area under the curve [AUC] ≥ 0.80) to differentiate 2-4-year-old autistic from non-autistic children.
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Evaluation of the Acceptability and Feasibility of the Social Attention and Communication Surveillance-Revised (SACS-R) Tool for Early Identification of Autism in Preterm InfantsPreterm birth is associated with a 3.3-fold increased likelihood of autism diagnosis, with lower gestational age conferring higher likelihood. In Australia, autism is typically diagnosed at around age four, potentially missing the optimal neuroplasticity window before age two. The Social Attention and Communication Surveillance-Revised (SACS-R) tool identifies early autism signs in children aged 11-30 months, enabling pre-emptive intervention.
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“We Need Community-Centred, Strongly Ethical Genetic Research”: A Qualitative Investigation of Community Attitudes Toward Autism GeneticsAutism genetics has historically attracted a substantial proportion of autism research funding internationally. However, more recently, several controversies centered on ethical conduct and lack of community consultation have emerged. This has triggered Autistic-led protests for the functional and meaningful inclusion of Autistic voices in the research design.
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Early markers of adult symptoms of depression and anxiety in the Raine StudyEarly intervention offers the potential to mitigate adult mental illness; however, trials spanning decades present significant challenges, necessitating predictive early markers useable in trial settings. We hypothesised that parent evaluation using the child behaviour checklist (CBCL) total problem score at age two years predicted adult depressive and anxious symptoms and explored other potential parent ratings.
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Measuring cognitive and affective empathy across positive and negative emotions: psychometric properties and measurement invariance of the Perth Empathy ScaleEmpathy, a complex and multidimensional construct essential for social functioning and mental health, has been extensively studied in both research and clinical settings. The Perth Empathy Scale (PES), a recently developed self-report measure, assesses cognitive and affective empathy across both positive and negative emotions and is based on the self-other model of empathy. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the PES in large Iranian sample.
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A GWAS for grip strength in cohorts of children-Advantages of analysing young participants for this traitGrip strength is a proxy measure for muscular strength and a predictor for bone fracture risk among other diseases. Previous genome-wide association studies have been conducted in large cohorts of adults focusing on scores collected for the dominant hand, therefore increasing the likelihood of confounding effects by environmental factors.
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‘It depends entirely on the nature of those supports’: Community perceptions of the appropriateness of early support services for autistic childrenWe do not know much about what support services people think are okay for young autistic children. This study was a survey of 253 people. We asked autistic adults, parents, and professionals from Australia and New Zealand whether they thought it was okay to provide support services to autistic children.
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“I Just Feel Like the Teacher Understood Me, and She Knew What I Needed”: School Experiences of Autistic Students from Diverse BackgroundsGathering Autistic young people's testimony is critical for understanding their lived experience of education and designing settings in which these students can thrive. Despite increasing knowledge in this field, we lack perspectives from a broad range of Autistic students which necessarily limits our ability to build inclusive, supportive environments for all. This study explored the educational experiences of preschool and school-aged Autistic students from diverse age groups, backgrounds, and educational settings.
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Characterizing the Nature of Alexithymia in Autistic Adults: Validation of the Perth Alexithymia QuestionnaireAlexithymia—a trait characterized by difficulties in emotion processing—is of high interest in the autism field. However, the lack of validated alexithymia measures for autistic individuals limits progress. This study aimed to address this gap by examining the psychometric properties of the Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire (PAQ) across autistic and non-autistic samples. Using the PAQ, we investigated how alexithymia manifests in autistic individuals and its links with poor mental health outcomes (anxiety).