While numerous treatments for ASD are available, intervention based on the principles and procedures of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) has garnered substantial scientific support. In this study we evaluated the effects of the lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, followed by quarantine provisions and during the three months after the resumption of activities. The study was conducted on a group of children taking part on a ABA-based intervention funded by the Local Health Authority (ASL) of the province of Caserta. In this study we considered a sample of 88 children who had been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, aged between 18 and 30 months. The following inclusion criteria were observed: age at the time of diagnosis less than 30 months, absence of other neurological, genetic, or sensorineural pathologies, and severity level 1 measured by symptoms evaluation based on the ADOS 2 module T (used for diagnosis). During the lockdown children experienced improvements in communication, socialization, and personal autonomy. During the three months after the ABA treatment, the acquired skills were maintained but no significant improvement was demonstrated. In this study, we describe how parent training was significant in avoiding delays in the generalization of socially significant behaviors, following the drastic interruption of the treatment in this group of children.

Autism spectrum disorders represent a heterogeneous group of clinical situations, and are mainly represented by a deficit of social communication. In this study, we compare two strategies to enhance communicative/social skills, namely self-video modeling and peer video modeling. The subjects were divided into two groups treated via the method of self-video modeling (group 1) or peer video modeling (group 2). For both groups of subjects affected by ASD-HF (Autism Spectrum Disorder-high-functioning), three different activities were proposed: (a) interacting with a salesperson while making a purchase, (b) initiating and maintaining a conversation with peers, and (c) starting and maintaining an enjoyable activity with a peer. The ability to rapidly accomplish the task was used as the main criteria to appraise the groups’ responses to the proposed activities. In group 1, the use of self-video modeling procedures demonstrated a faster and correct execution of the three proposed tasks (especially task 3) when compared to group 2. In group 2, the use of peer video modeling has instead led to a slower acquisition of abilities to process and perform the tasks. The use of self-video modeling speeds up the acquisition of skills to perform communicative/social tasks, compared to peer video modeling’s slower performance in subjects with ASD-HF. Results could be related to either the amount of time the subject is exposed to the task or to the capacity of ASD-HF subjects to self-value one’s own actions more than others. In our work, we have tried to reset the differences in exposure time. Therefore, self-video modeling is demonstrated to be more effective, as it produces a response to the signification/mirroring characteristic of ASD-HF.

In this study, we aim to verify how emotional training can improve empathy and theory of mind (ToM) in patients diagnosed with early onset schizophrenia and Asperger’s syndrome. The study design includes 100 subjects divided into two experimental groups and two control groups. The two experimental groups followed a rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) protocol. The two control groups instead underwent cognitive behavioral psychotherapy training. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was applied to analyze the difference between the Asperger’s syndrome (AS) and early onset schizophrenia (EOS) groups, pre and post training. Our analysis shows that the AS group improved post emotional training but only when emotions were internalized, as demonstrated by the improvement of the scores in the post-treatment eye test (ET) but not in the emotional quotient (EQ) test. The EOS group instead showed post-training improvement, not only concerning skills leading to internalizing emotions but also in empathy, as demonstrated by the improvement of EQ and Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ) test scores. These scores remained lower than in the control group. Finally, our findings reveal that the value of the treatment was more considerable for the EOS group than for the AS group due to the improvement in first- and second-order ToM skills and an improvement of empathic skills in the first group, followed by the group comprising AS subjects. In the AS group, the treatment only favored the enhancement of first-order ToM skills; however, this improved quality of life and social adaptation.

With the introduction of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5th ed. (DSM-5) autism spectrum disorders (ASD) fall into the category of neurodevelopmental disorders. ASD is characterized by the inhibitory mechanisms responsible for social adaptation and emotional expression being underdeveloped, causing a child’s recognition and understanding of emotions to be impaired. Our study hypothesizes that early intervention using behavioral interventions such as Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and reflexive functions (RF) training on parents can improve the development of joint attention (JA), a cognitive precursor to the theory of mind (ToM) and mentalization processes. We considered a sample of 84 children aged between 20 and 30 months who had received a diagnosis of risk of autism spectrum disorder (level 1). The sample was divided into two groups of 42 subjects, in the first group we carried out a weekly behavioral parent training (PT) based only on ABA principles, while in the second group we carried out a weekly PT aimed at improving reflective functions and parental awareness according to a model inspired by the model based on emotional mirroring and mentalization of Fonagy. Our study shows that parents who are able to make sense of both their own mental state and that of their child can serve as a protective factor for the child’s development even in atypical developmental situations such as in ASD.

The developmental phase of adolescence is characterized by a multitude of neurocognitive and psychosocial changes and is therefore considered one of the most critical developmental periods of life. Experimentation on the use of substances often begins in adolescence and so does the addiction process. Most research in human subjects shows that chronic cannabis abuse is the cause of the impairment of some cognitive functions, affecting the performance on divided attention, verbal memory and working memory. In this study, we wanted to investigate how the abuse of cannabis (chronic, occasional and absence use) can influence global cognitive functioning, also through executive functions. From the statistical analyzes of our study, it emerges that the group of subjects who use chronic cannabis (group 1) has a significant drop in working memory tasks compared to the group that does not use it (group 3). In addition, the goal of future studies by our group is to verify the permanent alteration of cognitive processes affected through revaluations with calendar follow-up (controlled).