Although social competence deficits in children with high-functioning autistic spectrum disorders (HFASD) are well documented, there is little research investigating self-perceptions of social limitations. This study replicated research showing a negative association between self-perceived social competence and intellectual ability and investigated associations between self-perceived social competence and depressive symptomatology. Participants were 22 children with HFASD, aged 7-13 years with intelligence quotient (IQ) scores of 82-141. Parent- (N = 18) and teacher- (N = 17) rated social competence was lower for children with HFASD compared with a normative sample. Higher age and IQ predicted lower levels of self-perceived social competence, and low self-perceived social competence predicted higher levels of depressive symptomatology. Almost a third of children rated themselves for depression; parent ratings suggested even higher levels.

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Background: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a pervasive and clinically heterogeneous neurodevelopmental disorder by deficits in social communication and interactions skills, and repetitive and stereotyped behaviours. It has becomes apparent that ASD has a strong genetics component, however, the level of heritability is still debated, suggesting that modifiable non-genetic factors may play an important role in ASD. Pre-, peri and post-natal exposure to a variety of environmental factors have previously been implicated in its etiology. However, the comprehensive assessment of environmental exposure in ASD in large datasets from variable environmental settings is still lacking. Methods: To examine the role of environmental exposures in a population of Portuguese children with ASD, we translated, adapted and are piloting the Early Life Exposure Assessment Tool (ELEAT). The ELEAT was originally developed at the University of California Davis to assess environmental factors in studies of neurodevelopmental disorders. It is a questionnaire filled by mothers of children with ASD, enquiring about Demographic Information, Maternal Conditions/ Medical Interventions, Breastfeeding and Child Diet, Maternal Diet, Supplements, Lifestyle, Home and Environment, Environment, Occupation and Exposures. The ELEAT gathers information about ! 2 environmental exposure along key phases for early neurodevelopment, including 3 months prior to conception, pregnancy, labor and delivery and the first year of life of the child. Results:The large majority of mothers were sure about their answers for all modules, with some clear difficulties reported only for the module Occupations/Exposures for a small fraction of the group. Most of the mothers considered the ELEAT to be a little too long, but generally found that the instructions were clear and, most importantly, agreed that the questions were important. Conclusions:Integration of the pilot feedback will allow us to enhance the tool and optimize its usage in Portuguese-speaking communities, improving its capacity to assemble accurate environmental data from diverse cultural settings, and to be extended to larger population datasets.Combined with genetic and clinical data, the ELEAT will contribute to the identification of modifiable lifestyle and environmental risk factors for ASD. Such evidence may eventually provide the opportunity for disease prevention or reduced severity by mitigating exposure when genetic susceptibility is identified early in life.

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The present report describes the work done in the project Implementation of the Electronic Transmission of Chemical Occurrence Data in Portugal. The objective of the project was to implement and test an electronic system for the transmission of food contaminant data to EFSA and create a national database, according to EFSA standards. This document describes also the challenges encountered during the implementation of the standard model and makes a general analysis on its limitations and potential developments.