The Impact of Health and Social Services on the Quality of Life in Families of Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): A Focus Group Study

Correale, Cinzia; Borgi, Marta; Cirulli, Francesca; Laghi, Fiorenzo; Trimarco, Bruno; Ferraro, Maurizio; Venerosi, Aldina

doi:10.3390/brainsci12020177

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…As a result, many children with the condition are unable to integrate into normal life and learning, which has a serious impact on the children’s families and society. 38 What we emphasize is that the timing of intervention is very important, and early intervention is considered to be of great significance to the long-term outcome of autism. 39 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acupuncture Ameliorated Behavioral Abnormalities in the Autism Rat Model via Pathways for Hippocampal Serotonin

Chen¹,

Li-jiang²,

Liu³

et al. 2023

NDT

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Purpose Acupuncture can improve symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but the potential mechanisms remain undefined. So, we aimed to explore the behavioral improvement of autism rat model after acupuncture and to describe the potential molecular mechanism underlying these changes. Patients and Methods Wistar rats were intraperitoneally injected with VPA 12.5 days after conception, and their offspring were considered as good models of autism. Experimental rats were divided into three groups (wild-type (WT), n = 10; VPA, n = 10; and VPA_acupuncture, n = 10). VPA_acupuncture group rat received 4 weeks of acupuncture treatment (Shéntíng (GV24), and Bilateral Běnshén (GB13)) on the 23rd day after birth. All rats were subjected to behavioral tests, including social interaction, open field, and Morris water maze tests. Afterwards, hippocampal tissues (left side) were removed and subjected to RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis; ELISA was also used to detect the associated serotonin levels in the hippocampus. Results Behavioral tests showed that acupuncture treatment improved spontaneous activity, aberrant social interaction, and alleviated impaired learning and memory in the VPA-induced rat model. Differentially expressed genes (DGEs) analysis showed 142 significantly differentially expressed genes between WT and VPA groups, and 282 between VPA and VPA_acupuncture rats. Htr2c and Htr1a , 5-HT receptor genes, were up-regulated in the VPA group compared with WT group. Additionally, Tph1 , a rate-limiting enzyme gene of 5-HT synthesis, was up-regulated after acupuncture. These genes were confirmed to have the same trend of expression obtained by RT-qPCR and RNA seq. Furthermore, the concentration of serotonin in the hippocampus in the VPA group was significantly lower than the WT and VPA_acupuncture groups. Conclusion Acupuncture improved abnormal behavioral symptoms in the VPA-induced rat model. Further experiments showed that the improvement of the serotonin system may be one of the main regulatory mechanisms of acupuncture for treating ASD.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acupuncture Ameliorated Behavioral Abnormalities in the Autism Rat Model via Pathways for Hippocampal Serotonin

Chen¹,

Li-jiang²,

Liu³

et al. 2023

NDT

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“…Several studies emphasised a mismatch between support needs and the existing formal support systems. The reasons were due to both organisational issues like the lack of structured care pathways and the scarcity of autism‐specific competence in the services (e.g., Correale et al, 2022). Emotional support was described as the most significant need for the parents, where both the size and the quality of the relationships and the networks affected their well‐being (e.g., Smith et al, 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Who cares? A scoping review about the experiences of parental caregivers of autistic adults

Ljungberg

Schön

2023

Research Intellect Disabil

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BackgroundThe autistic population is growing and ageing and this also applies to the parents. Despite this, research about parental experiences is still relatively scarce. Even though studies show, compared with adults with other disabilities, parents of autistic adolescents and adults report a decrease in well‐being and that caregiving is often a lifelong commitment.MethodThis scoping review maps, synthesises and identifies gaps in previous research as regards the experiences of parental caregivers of adult autistic children. The review was based on Arksey and Malley's framework and six databases were searched.ResultsThe results show how the research has focused on the well‐being and consequences of daily caregiving for an American middle‐class mother who co‐resides with an adult son.ConclusionTo enhance knowledge about formal services and service needs, more research is necessary on different welfare regimes and social contexts.

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“…This may increase our understanding of the underlying neurobiological processes for maladaptive social behavior. Future studies could link this information with further autism-related aspects of social processing [ 43 , 44 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global and Regional Structural Differences and Prediction of Autistic Traits during Adolescence

et al. 2022

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Background: Autistic traits are commonly viewed as dimensional in nature, and as continuously distributed in the general population. In this respect, the identification of predictive values of markers such as subtle autism-related alterations in brain morphology for parameter values of autistic traits could increase our understanding of this dimensional occasion. However, currently, very little is known about how these traits correspond to alterations in brain morphology in typically developing individuals, particularly during a time period where changes due to brain development processes do not provide a bias. Therefore, in the present study, we analyzed brain volume, cortical thickness (CT) and surface area (SA) in a cohort of 14–15-year-old adolescents (N = 285, female: N = 162) and tested their predictive value for autistic traits, assessed with the social responsiveness scale (SRS) two years later at the age of 16–17 years, using a regression-based approach. We found that autistic traits were significantly predicted by volumetric changes in the amygdala (r = 0.181), cerebellum (r = 0.128) and hippocampus (r = −0.181, r = −0.203), both in boys and girls. Moreover, the CT of the superior frontal region was negatively correlated (r = −0.144) with SRS scores. Furthermore, we observed a significant association between the SRS total score and smaller left putamen volume, specifically in boys (r = −0.217), but not in girls. Our findings suggest that neural correlates of autistic traits also seem to lie on a continuum in the general population, are determined by limbic–striatal neuroanatomical brain areas, and are partly dependent on sex. As we imaged adolescents from a large population-based cohort within a small age range, these data may help to increase the understanding of autistic-like occasions in otherwise typically developing individuals.

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The Impact of Health and Social Services on the Quality of Life in Families of Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): A Focus Group Study

Cited by 7 publications

References 29 publications

Acupuncture Ameliorated Behavioral Abnormalities in the Autism Rat Model via Pathways for Hippocampal Serotonin

Acupuncture Ameliorated Behavioral Abnormalities in the Autism Rat Model via Pathways for Hippocampal Serotonin

Who cares? A scoping review about the experiences of parental caregivers of autistic adults

Global and Regional Structural Differences and Prediction of Autistic Traits during Adolescence

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