This application describes an interrelated program of studies that will provide a broad and multifaceted array of data on neurobiological and family processes that contribute to the social development of higher-function children with autism (UFA children). It has been designed to provide descriptive scientific data necessary to establish an immediately useful foundation for the development of more effective diagnostic and intervention methods to meet the specific social emotional needs of higher functioning children in the elementary through high-school years. In conjunction with this applied goal, this program of studies has also been designed to test new hypotheses about the role of motivation and self-monitoring related brain systems, as well as family factors, in the social development of HFA children. In particular, this application describes research that will examine dimensions of neurobiological and family processes that theory suggests contribute to both social impairments and comorbidity in higher functioning children. Included here are: 1) motivation processes associated with anterior EEG asymmetry, 2) self-monitoring processes associated with EEG error related negativity and, 3) processes associated with parent's emotional status and family critical expressed emotion (EE).
1 aim of this research is to replicate and extend preliminary observations that anterior EEG asymmetry measures provide an important marker of subgroups of HFA children that significantly differ from each other, and controls, on measures of social impairment, comorbid anxiety and executive functions.
A second aim i s to test the hypotheses that HFA children will differ from controls on measures of self-monitoring, and that self-monitoring will be related to HFA sub-group differences in social impairments and comorbid anxiety.
A final aim of this application is to examine the degree to which parent emotional status and/or family expressed emotion is related to individual differences in social impairments and comorbidity among HFA children. To address these specific aims this application proposes a study of 120 HFA children in 2 age groups (8-12 and 13-17 years) and 120 age, gender and IQ matched controls.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01MH071273-03
Application #
7189045
Study Section
Child Psychopathology and Developmental Disabilities Study Section (CPDD)
Program Officer
Gilotty, Lisa
Project Start
2005-03-15
Project End
2010-02-28
Budget Start
2007-03-01
Budget End
2008-02-29
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2007
Total Cost
$304,247
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Miami Coral Gables
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
625174149
City
Coral Gables
State
FL
Country
United States
Zip Code
33146
Jaime, Mark; McMahon, Camilla M; Davidson, Bridget C et al. (2016) Brief Report: Reduced Temporal-Central EEG Alpha Coherence During Joint Attention Perception in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 46:1477-89
McMahon, Camilla M; Henderson, Heather A; Newell, Lisa et al. (2016) Metacognitive Awareness of Facial Affect in Higher-Functioning Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 46:882-98
Burrows, Catherine A; Usher, Lauren V; Mundy, Peter C et al. (2016) The salience of the self: Self-referential processing and internalizing problems in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. Autism Res :
Burrows, Catherine A; Usher, Lauren V; Schwartz, Caley B et al. (2016) Supporting the Spectrum Hypothesis: Self-Reported Temperament in Children and Adolescents with High Functioning Autism. J Autism Dev Disord 46:1184-95
McMahon, Camilla M; Henderson, Heather A (2015) Error-monitoring in response to social stimuli in individuals with higher-functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder. Dev Sci 18:389-403
Usher, Lauren V; Burrows, Catherine A; Schwartz, Caley B et al. (2015) Social Competence with an Unfamiliar Peer in Children and Adolescents with High Functioning Autism: Measurement and Individual Differences. Res Autism Spectr Disord 17:25-39
Henderson, Heather A; Ono, Kim E; McMahon, Camilla M et al. (2015) The costs and benefits of self-monitoring for higher functioning children and adolescents with autism. J Autism Dev Disord 45:548-59
Hileman, Camilla M; Henderson, Heather; Mundy, Peter et al. (2011) Developmental and individual differences on the P1 and N170 ERP components in children with and without autism. Dev Neuropsychol 36:214-36
Mundy, Peter; Jarrold, William (2010) Infant joint attention, neural networks and social cognition. Neural Netw 23:985-97
Mundy, Peter; Gwaltney, Mary; Henderson, Heather (2010) Self-referenced processing, neurodevelopment and joint attention in autism. Autism 14:408-29

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