Background Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience set‐shifting deficit as a part of executive function, which can lead to cognitive and behavioural flexibility deficits and/or restricted behaviours. Despite the increasing body of research on this cognitive deficit, set‐shifting training has not been exclusively studied in ASD. Aims In this study, a training condition [set‐shifting improvement tasks (SSIT)] was developed to improve set‐shifting ability; afterwards, the possible effects of these tasks were investigated. Methods and Procedures With the aim of improving set‐shifting ability in children with autism, a training program (SSIT), involving a computer game (Tatka, a puzzle game produced by our research team) with some home‐based tasks (for generalisation purposes), was developed. Then, in a quasi‐experimental design, the effects of SSIT tasks were studied on children (n = 13, 5–7 years old) with high‐functioning autism. Outcome measures (pre‐training, post‐training and a 6‐week follow‐up) were assessed using Modified Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Bender‐Gestalt Test and Behavioural Flexibility Rating Scale. Results and Outcomes A significant change was observed in both cognitive (Bender Gestalt, ηp2=0.84; WCST; =p20.87) and behavioural flexibilities ( ηp2=0.79) and also in repetitive behaviours ( ηp2=0.45). Furthermore, the result remained stable to some extent for about 1 month after the training condition. Conclusions and Implications Developing the SSIT is just an initial step in the major target of creating cognitive rehabilitation tools to be used by clinicians and parents for children diagnosed with ASD and should be understood as a supplement, rather than an alternative, to the main treatments such as applied behaviour analysis. Future research with larger samples are needed to confirm whether this intervention is effective for children with ASD.
Background and Purpose: As children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are more likely to experience anxiety than their peers, investigation of risk factors for anxiety in them is important for the purpose of diagnosis and treatment. Thus, this study aims to explore the risk factors of anxiety in children and adolescent with ASD. Source of Data: To obtain the selected articles to enter the analysis, systematic search strategies were used. The five databases including Scopus, Sciencedirect, PubMed, OVID-PsycINFO, and Springer were searched using a combination of selected keywords. Method: This study was a systematic review and 5 electronic databases from 2000 to 2019 were searched using a comprehensive search strategy. As a result of this search, 377 articles were retrieved. According to PRISMA and based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 18 research papers were selected for the study. Results: Although the findings were somehow contradictory, according to the results of the majority of studies, it can be concluded that anxiety in girls and in older children and adolescents with ASD is higher than boys and younger children and adolescents with ASD. Moreover, it was found that children with higher cognitive functions, lower autism severity, and more social problems had more anxiety symptoms. Conclusion:The current findings suggest that gender, age, cognitive functioning, ASD severity, and social problems should be considered as potential risk factors for anxiety when assessing a child with ASD. Therefore, early prevention and intervention of anxiety in children with ASD who are most at risk is necessary.
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