Facial emotion recognition and eye movement behaviour in conduct disorder

Background

Conduct Disorder (CD) is associated with impairments in facial emotion recognition. However, it is unclear whether such deficits are explained by a failure to attend to emotionally informative face regions, such as the eyes, or by problems in the appraisal of emotional cues.

Method

Male and female adolescents with CD and varying levels of callous‐unemotional (CU) traits and age‐ and sex‐matched typically developing (TD) controls (aged 13–18) categorised the emotion of dynamic and morphed static faces. Concurrent eye tracking was used to relate categorisation performance to participants' allocation of overt attention.

Results

Adolescents with CD were worse at emotion recognition than TD controls, with deficits observed across static and dynamic expressions. In addition, the CD group fixated less on the eyes when viewing fearful and sad expressions. Across all participants, higher levels of CU traits were associated with fear recognition deficits and reduced attention to the eyes of surprised faces. Within the CD group, however, higher CU traits were associated with better fear recognition. Overall, males were worse at recognising emotions than females and displayed a reduced tendency to fixate the eyes.

Discussion

Adolescents with CD, and particularly males, showed deficits in emotion recognition and fixated less on the eyes when viewing emotional faces. Individual differences in fixation behaviour predicted modest variations in emotion categorisation. However, group differences in fixation were small and did not explain the much larger group differences in categorisation performance, suggesting that CD‐related deficits in emotion recognition were not mediated by abnormal fixation patterns.     

Brain structure abnormalities in adolescent girls with conduct disorder

Background: Conduct disorder (CD) in female adolescents is associated with a range of negative outcomes, including teenage pregnancy and antisocial personality disorder. Although recent studies have documented changes in brain structure and function in male adolescents with CD, there have been no neuroimaging studies of female adolescents with CD. Our primary objective was to investigate whether female adolescents with CD show changes in grey matter volume. Our secondary aim was to assess for sex differences in the relationship between CD and brain structure. Methods: Female adolescents with CD (n = 22) and healthy control participants matched in age, performance IQ and handedness (n = 20) underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging. Group comparisons of grey matter volume were performed using voxel‐based morphometry. We also tested for sex differences using archive data obtained from male CD and control participants. Results: Female adolescents with CD showed reduced bilateral anterior insula and right striatal grey matter volumes compared with healthy controls. Aggressive CD symptoms were negatively correlated with right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex volume, whereas callous‐unemotional traits were positively correlated with bilateral orbitofrontal cortex volume. The sex differences analyses revealed a main effect of diagnosis on right amygdala volume (reflecting reduced amygdala volume in the combined CD group relative to controls) and sex‐by‐diagnosis interactions in bilateral anterior insula. Conclusions: We observed structural abnormalities in brain regions involved in emotion processing, reward and empathy in female adolescents with CD, which broadly overlap with those reported in previous studies of CD in male adolescents.     

The effects of including a callous-unemotional specifier for the diagnosis of conduct disorder

Background: ‘With Significant Callous–Unemotional Traits’ has been proposed as a specifier for conduct disorder (CD) in the upcoming revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM‐V). The impact of this specifier on children diagnosed with CD should be considered. Methods: A multi‐site cross‐sectional design with volunteers (n = 1136) in the third–seventh grades and 566 consecutive referrals (ages 5–18) to a community mental health center were used to estimate the prevalence rates of CD with and without the proposed specifier. In addition, the degree of emotional and behavioral (especially physical aggression) disturbance and level of impairment in youth with and without CD and with and without the specifier was evaluated. Results: In the community sample, 10%–32% of those with CD and 2%–7% of those without CD met the callous–unemotional (CU) specifier threshold depending on informant. In the clinic‐referred sample, 21%–50% of those with CD and 14%–32% without CD met the CU specifier threshold depending on informant. Those with CD and the specifier showed higher rates of aggression in both samples and higher rates of cruelty in the clinic‐referred sample. Conclusions: Results indicate between 10% and 50% of youth with CD would be designated with the proposed CU specifier. Those with CD and the specifier appear to be more severe on a number of indices, including aggression and cruelty.     

孤独症谱系障碍儿童的行为管理

孤独症谱系障碍（ASD）是一类发生于儿童期的神经发育障碍性疾病,以社会交往和社会交流缺陷以及限制性重复性行为、兴趣和活动两大核心表现为特征。因此,ASD干预的一个重点即是通过进行有效的行为管理来改善行为紊乱问题。应用行为分析是一门科学,其在ASD儿童康复教育中的运用效果具有循证依据,在ASD儿童行为管理中,康复医师应牢牢掌握行为的基本原理理论,在理论指导下运用具有循证实践基础的策略和方法科学地开展工作。     

孤独症谱系障碍儿童的康复干预模式

该文介绍了孤独症谱系障碍的康复干预模式的分类,并依据循证依据(evidence-base practice,EBP)以及混合性研究方式(mixing methodologies)判断有效的基础上举例介绍我国目前使用的一些方法及其进展。     

Attachment and callous-unemotional traits in children with early-onset conduct problems

Background: Antisocial children with callous‐unemotional (CU) traits appear to be disconnected from other people’s emotions; although little is known about their experience of the parent‐child emotional bond. This study examined parent‐child attachment relationships and levels of CU traits in conduct‐problem children. Method: Attachment classifications in boys (M = 6.31 years) with disruptive behaviour disorders were assessed using the Manchester Child Attachment Story Task. Multiple informants rated children’s CU traits. Results: Independent of severity of conduct problems, high levels of CU traits were associated with more insecure attachment; specifically, disorganised attachment representations; however, CU traits were not associated with avoidant representations. Conclusions: Among conduct‐problem children, those higher on CU traits appear to be at increased risk of experiencing disruptions in parent‐child attachment relationships; attachment may be an important area for treatment and prevention efforts for CU traits in young children.     

孤独症谱系障碍儿童的运动技能障碍

孤独症谱系障碍(autism spectrum disorders, ASD儿童的运动技能障碍常表现为早期运动落后、协调障碍、体能下降及视动整合障碍等,在不同程度上影响了他们的生活、学习及社会交往。由于ASD儿童的核心症状相对明显,故其运动技能障碍常常会被忽视。ASD儿童应早期进行运动功能的监测,选择合适方法进行运动评估,针对其运动技能障碍特点进行相应训练,以促进其运动技能的发育,从而辅助改善其核心功能障碍。运动干预在改善ASD儿童功能的证据日益增加,临床上不应该忽视ASD儿童的运动技能障碍及其康复干预,而应得到更多关注。     

Feeding difficulties in children with autism spectrum disorder: Aetiology,health impacts and psychotherapeutic interventions

Feeding difficulties are common and significant issues for children with autism spectrum disorder and their families. Key features of autism are intrinsically linked with factors contributing to these children's feeding difficulties. Following a multidisciplinary assessment to exclude non‐behavioural reasons for the feeding difficulty, there are two mainstay modalities of treatment: operant conditioning and systematic desensitisation. Currently, evidence points towards operant conditioning as the most efficacious psychotherapy. However, recent research into cognitive behavioural therapy for older children with feeding difficulties has shown promising results and will be an area to monitor in the coming years. This review outlines the causes and health impacts and evaluates current evidence supporting the available psychotherapeutic interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder experiencing feeding difficulties.     

The co-occurrence of autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms in parents of children with ASD or ASD with ADHD

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) share about 50–72% of their genetic factors, which is the most likely explanation for their frequent co‐occurrence within the same patient or family. An additional or alternative explanation for the co‐occurrence may be (cross‐)assortative mating, e.g., the tendency to choose a partner that is similar or dissimilar to oneself. Another issue is that of parent‐of‐origin effect which refers to the possibility of parents differing in the relative quantity of risk factors they transmit to the offspring. The current study sets out to examine (cross‐)assortative mating and (cross‐)parent‐of‐origin effects of ASD and ADHD in parents of children with either ASD or ASD with ADHD diagnosis. Methods: In total, 121 families were recruited in an ongoing autism‐ADHD family genetics project. Participating families consisted of parents and at least one child aged between 2 and 20 years, with either autistic disorder, Asperger disorder or PDD‐NOS, and one or more biological siblings. All children and parents were carefully screened for the presence of ASD and ADHD. Results: No correlations were found between maternal and paternal ASD and ADHD symptoms. Parental ASD and ADHD symptoms were predictive for similar symptoms in the offspring, but with maternal hyperactive‐impulsive symptoms, but not paternal symptoms, predicting similar symptoms in daughters. ASD pathology in the parents was not predictive for ADHD pathology in the offspring, but mother’s ADHD pathology was predictive for offspring ASD pathology even when corrected for maternal ASD pathology. Conclusions: Cross‐assortative mating for ASD and ADHD does not form an explanation for the frequent co‐occurrence of these disorders within families. Given that parental ADHD is predictive of offspring’ ASD but not vice versa, risk factors underlying ASD may overlap to a larger degree with risk factors underlying ADHD than vice versa. However, future research is needed to clarify this issue.     

Commentary: Cognitive and emotional empathy in transdiagnostic research – reflections on Klapwijk et al. (2016)

Evidence across multiple disorders indicates that empathy is a transdiagnostic dimension of psychopathology. Klapwijk et al.'s (2016) functional MRI study examines whether autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and conduct disorder (CD) can be distinguished by the constructs of ‘cognitive’ and ‘emotional’ empathy – with the former focusing on accurate emotion perception and the latter on shared affective experience. This commentary examines the implications of the cognitive/emotional empathy distinction, and how it fits with existing accounts of perceptual differences in ASD. Cognitive empathy overlaps substantially with the constructs of emotion perception and Theory of Mind – both well studied among individuals with ASD, but generally viewed as fairly distinct from empathy. CD, on the other hand, is typically not associated with frank perceptual deficits. Although the brain imaging data from this study do not provide strong support for the constructs of cognitive and emotional empathy, the general approach used in this study is precisely the kind needed to test the validity and utility of transdiagnostic mechanisms of psychopathology.     

孤独症谱系障碍儿童的情绪意识及欺凌预防

情绪障碍是孤独症谱系障碍（autism spectrum disorder,ASD）患者的主要临床症状之一,与缺乏情绪意识、社交认知和叙情障碍有关。表现为难以识别、辨别和处理自己和他人的情感信息、做出不恰当的情绪反应行为。ASD儿童和青少年常以施害者、受害者或施害-受害者的身份参与校园欺凌,并由此带来一系列身心不利后果。欺凌预防不仅应包括针对ASD核心症状、共患病的干预,更涉及建立伙伴的同理心和社交技巧、教师责任和支持性服务、父母参与、社交融合等多个方面。     

Personality differences in children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, and controls

BACKGROUND: Differences in personality profiles were examined between children who differed in their co-morbidity of externalizing disorders: attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and conduct disorder (CD). METHODS: 11- and 17-year-old male and female twins from a community sample were categorized as ADHD only, CD only, co-morbid CD-ADHD, and controls (no ADHD or CD) based on threshold and subthreshold CD and ADHD diagnoses assessed with structured interviews. Multivariate analyses were used to identify patterns of personality that differentiate these four diagnostic groups. It was hypothesized that significant differences would be found in the pattern of personality variables between participants in the co-morbid group, compared to the other three groups, and that these differences would hold across developmental periods. RESULTS: As expected, the co-morbid group had a pattern of personality marked by higher Negative Emotionality and lower Constraint than the other diagnostic groups. This pattern was evidenced across gender and age cohort. CONCLUSIONS: An extreme personality profile may represent a liability toward the occurrence of ADHD and CD with more extreme profiles contributing to the occurrence of both disorders among boys and girls. Implications for treatment planning and theoretical development are discussed.     

Social communication deficits in conduct disorder: a clinical and community survey

BACKGROUND: Increasing numbers of children are referred to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services because of disruptive behaviour. Recent reviews on the origins of conduct problems indicate that the most severe and persistent forms are found predominantly among males with a range of neurodevelopmental vulnerabilities, which are likely to have biological substrates. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that many children who are identified with conduct disorder actually have a primary deficit in pragmatic language skills, of a quality and degree that is similar to children on the autistic spectrum. We hypothesised that pragmatic difficulties may underlie the antisocial behaviour in a proportion of children who are labelled as conduct disordered. METHODS: Using the Children's Communication Checklist (Bishop, 1998), we surveyed 142 children who had been referred for clinical investigation, with a predominant diagnosis of either an autistic spectrum condition (n = 87) or conduct disorder (n = 55), and 60 typically developing comparison children. Among children with conduct disorders, males predominated 9:1. RESULTS: On the basis of parent and teacher ratings, two-thirds of those with conduct disorders had pragmatic language impairments and other behavioural features similar in nature and degree to those of children with autism, independent of IQ. In a further study, we surveyed 54 children who had been excluded from elementary schools in a socio-economically disadvantaged inner-London borough and found over two-thirds to have comparable deficits. CONCLUSIONS: These findings have both theoretical and practical implications. First, they indicate the presence of communicative problems in a sub-group of children in whom conduct rather than language had been the major concern. Second, they indicate that severe deficits in pragmatic abilities and autistic-like behaviours can coexist with psychiatric conditions other than autism, especially in boys. Third, they imply that the management of many disruptive children could profitably be addressed to ameliorating their social and communicative skill deficits.     

Conversational behaviour of children with Asperger syndrome and conduct disorder

BACKGROUND: Social communication problems in individuals who have Asperger syndrome constitute one of the most significant problems in the syndrome. This study makes a systematic analysis of the difficulties demonstrated with the use of language (pragmatics) in adolescents who have Asperger syndrome. METHOD: Recent advances in discourse analysis were applied to conversational samples from a group of children with Asperger syndrome and a matched control group of children with severe conduct disorder. Two types of conversation were sampled from each group, differing in emotional content. RESULTS: The results showed that in these contexts children with Asperger syndrome were no more verbose as a group than controls, though they showed a tendency to talk more in more emotion-based conversations. Children with Asperger syndrome, as a group, performed similarly to control subjects in ability to respond to questions and comments. However, they were more likely to show responses which were problematic in both types of conversation. In addition, individuals with Asperger syndrome showed more problems in general conversation than during more emotionally and socially loaded topics. The group with Asperger syndrome was found to contain a small number of individuals with extreme verbosity but this was not a reliable characteristic of the group as a whole.