Autistic Traits and Empathy in Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder and Co-occurring Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder/Autism Spectrum Disorder
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are two of the most represented neurodevelopmental conditions in childhood. The diagnostic shift introduced by the DSM-5, allowing a combined diagnosis of ADHD and ASD, poses different clinical challenges related to...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-11-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2021.734177/full |
| _version_ | 1819130241256259584 |
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| author | Stefania Aiello David Vagni Antonio Cerasa Antonio Cerasa Antonio Cerasa Elisa Leonardi Cristina Carrozza Francesca Famà Agrippina Campisi Flavia Marino Rosamaria Siracusano Maria Ausilia Alquino Francesco Mainiero Eva Germano Gennaro Tartarisco Giovanni Pioggia Antonella Gagliano Liliana Ruta |
| author_facet | Stefania Aiello David Vagni Antonio Cerasa Antonio Cerasa Antonio Cerasa Elisa Leonardi Cristina Carrozza Francesca Famà Agrippina Campisi Flavia Marino Rosamaria Siracusano Maria Ausilia Alquino Francesco Mainiero Eva Germano Gennaro Tartarisco Giovanni Pioggia Antonella Gagliano Liliana Ruta |
| author_sort | Stefania Aiello |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are two of the most represented neurodevelopmental conditions in childhood. The diagnostic shift introduced by the DSM-5, allowing a combined diagnosis of ADHD and ASD, poses different clinical challenges related to diagnostic overshadowing, accuracy of clinical judgment and potential delay in an ASD diagnosis in children presenting with ADHD. Here we tried to disentangle the clinical phenotype and specificity of the two co-occurring conditions in relation to autism traits and empathy, by comparing children with ASD with and without comorbid ADHD with children presenting ADHD only and children with typical development. The child versions of the Autism Quotient (C-AQ) and Empathy Quotient (C-EQ) were administered to a total sample of 198 male children between 6 and 14 years old with age appropriate language skills and normal intelligence. Univariate analysis demonstrated no significant differences in the C-AQ total and subscale scores as well as the C-EQ between children with ASD and children with ASD + ADHD, while children with ADHD alone presented an intermediate phenotype between ASD and TD. Furthermore, a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was applied to discriminate among the different phenotypes. We found that the C-AQ and C-EQ were accurate at distinguishing with satisfactory reliability between: (a) ASD vs. non- ASD (N-ASD) groups comprising both ADHD and TD children (Area Under the Curve AUC 88% for C-AQ and 81% for C-EQ); (b) ASD and TD (AUC 92% for C-AQ and 95% for C-EQ); (c) ASD and ADHD (AUC 80% for C-AQ and 68% for C-EQ). Our data confirm the reliability of the C-AQ and C-EQ as behavioral markers to differentiate ASD (regardless of comorbid ADHD) from an ADHD condition and TD. Interestingly, in our sample an ADHD condition does not increase the severity of the clinical phenotype in terms of autism traits distribution and empathy, suggesting that the psychological measures detected by the two quantitative instruments are independent of ADHD traits. This evidence will contribute to the translational efforts in developing better tailored treatments and preventive strategies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T08:56:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-bb680c1ce04c46a6b960e5f7c56c1d37 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-453X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T08:56:29Z |
| publishDate | 2021-11-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-bb680c1ce04c46a6b960e5f7c56c1d372022-12-21T18:31:50ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neuroscience1662-453X2021-11-011510.3389/fnins.2021.734177734177Autistic Traits and Empathy in Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder and Co-occurring Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder/Autism Spectrum DisorderStefania Aiello0David Vagni1Antonio Cerasa2Antonio Cerasa3Antonio Cerasa4Elisa Leonardi5Cristina Carrozza6Francesca Famà7Agrippina Campisi8Flavia Marino9Rosamaria Siracusano10Maria Ausilia Alquino11Francesco Mainiero12Eva Germano13Gennaro Tartarisco14Giovanni Pioggia15Antonella Gagliano16Liliana Ruta17Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (IRIB), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Messina, ItalyInstitute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (IRIB), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Messina, ItalyInstitute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (IRIB), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Messina, ItalyS. Anna Institute, Crotone, ItalyPharmacotechnology Documentation and Transfer Unit, Preclinical and Translational Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacy, Health Science and Nutrition, University of Calabria, Arcavacata, ItalyInstitute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (IRIB), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Messina, ItalyInstitute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (IRIB), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Messina, ItalyInstitute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (IRIB), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Messina, ItalyInstitute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (IRIB), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Messina, ItalyInstitute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (IRIB), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Messina, ItalyDivision of Child Neurology and Psychiatry, Federico II University Hospital Naples, Naples, ItalyDivision of Child Neurology and Psychiatry, Department of the Adult and Developmental Age Human Pathology, University of Messina, Messina, ItalyDepartment of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, ItalyDivision of Child Neurology and Psychiatry, Department of the Adult and Developmental Age Human Pathology, University of Messina, Messina, ItalyInstitute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (IRIB), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Messina, ItalyInstitute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (IRIB), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Messina, ItalyChild and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, ItalyInstitute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (IRIB), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Messina, ItalyAttention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are two of the most represented neurodevelopmental conditions in childhood. The diagnostic shift introduced by the DSM-5, allowing a combined diagnosis of ADHD and ASD, poses different clinical challenges related to diagnostic overshadowing, accuracy of clinical judgment and potential delay in an ASD diagnosis in children presenting with ADHD. Here we tried to disentangle the clinical phenotype and specificity of the two co-occurring conditions in relation to autism traits and empathy, by comparing children with ASD with and without comorbid ADHD with children presenting ADHD only and children with typical development. The child versions of the Autism Quotient (C-AQ) and Empathy Quotient (C-EQ) were administered to a total sample of 198 male children between 6 and 14 years old with age appropriate language skills and normal intelligence. Univariate analysis demonstrated no significant differences in the C-AQ total and subscale scores as well as the C-EQ between children with ASD and children with ASD + ADHD, while children with ADHD alone presented an intermediate phenotype between ASD and TD. Furthermore, a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was applied to discriminate among the different phenotypes. We found that the C-AQ and C-EQ were accurate at distinguishing with satisfactory reliability between: (a) ASD vs. non- ASD (N-ASD) groups comprising both ADHD and TD children (Area Under the Curve AUC 88% for C-AQ and 81% for C-EQ); (b) ASD and TD (AUC 92% for C-AQ and 95% for C-EQ); (c) ASD and ADHD (AUC 80% for C-AQ and 68% for C-EQ). Our data confirm the reliability of the C-AQ and C-EQ as behavioral markers to differentiate ASD (regardless of comorbid ADHD) from an ADHD condition and TD. Interestingly, in our sample an ADHD condition does not increase the severity of the clinical phenotype in terms of autism traits distribution and empathy, suggesting that the psychological measures detected by the two quantitative instruments are independent of ADHD traits. This evidence will contribute to the translational efforts in developing better tailored treatments and preventive strategies.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2021.734177/fullautistic traitsempathyADHDASDgender |
| spellingShingle | Stefania Aiello David Vagni Antonio Cerasa Antonio Cerasa Antonio Cerasa Elisa Leonardi Cristina Carrozza Francesca Famà Agrippina Campisi Flavia Marino Rosamaria Siracusano Maria Ausilia Alquino Francesco Mainiero Eva Germano Gennaro Tartarisco Giovanni Pioggia Antonella Gagliano Liliana Ruta Autistic Traits and Empathy in Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder and Co-occurring Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder/Autism Spectrum Disorder Frontiers in Neuroscience autistic traits empathy ADHD ASD gender |
| title | Autistic Traits and Empathy in Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder and Co-occurring Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder/Autism Spectrum Disorder |
| title_full | Autistic Traits and Empathy in Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder and Co-occurring Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder/Autism Spectrum Disorder |
| title_fullStr | Autistic Traits and Empathy in Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder and Co-occurring Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder/Autism Spectrum Disorder |
| title_full_unstemmed | Autistic Traits and Empathy in Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder and Co-occurring Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder/Autism Spectrum Disorder |
| title_short | Autistic Traits and Empathy in Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder and Co-occurring Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder/Autism Spectrum Disorder |
| title_sort | autistic traits and empathy in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder autism spectrum disorder and co occurring attention deficit hyperactivity disorder autism spectrum disorder |
| topic | autistic traits empathy ADHD ASD gender |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2021.734177/full |
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