Consolidating a framework of autistic camouflaging strategies: An integrative systematic review.

Autistic 'social camouflaging' research is proliferating. However, the term is multi-definitional. Our integrative systematic review (CRD42022324957) pursued a single-framework, qualitative meta-synthesis of camouflaging in autistic adults.

A Bifactor Model of Childhood Adversity in a Longitudinal South African Birth Cohort Study.

Early exposure to violence can elicit a toxic-stress response in children. However, not all exposures to violence exert the same negative impact. This study aimed to develop a bifactor model of childhood adversity by integrating two established measures, the Child Exposure to Community Violence questionnaire and the Pediatric Emotional Distress Scale.

Sensitive periods for exposure to indoor air pollutants and psychosocial factors in association with symptoms of psychopathology at school-age in a South African birth cohort.

Exposure to environmental toxicants and psychosocial stressors during gestation and early life are particularly harmful and may impact brain development. Specifically, exposure to indoor air pollutants (IAP) and psychosocial factors (PF) during these sensitive periods has been shown to predict childhood psychopathology. Here, we investigated sensitive periods for the individual and joint effects of IAP and PF on childhood psychopathology at 6.

Exposure to Violence and Mental Health Outcomes Among Pre-schoolers in a South African Birth Cohort.

Little is known about the relationship between violence exposure and mental health in preschoolers living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Multiple regression analyses investigated associations between violence exposure and mental health in the Drakenstein Child Health Study (N = 978), a South African birth cohort. Lifetime violence exposure was assessed at age 4.

Measuring dispositional empathy in South African children.

Objective: Empathy is a key factor to examine in development, because of its predictive associations with both aggression and successful prosocial behaviour. However, established measures of empathy for Low-to-Middle Income Countries, including South Africa, are lacking. In children, parent-report measures are key.

Joint effects of indoor air pollution and maternal psychosocial factors during pregnancy on trajectories of early childhood psychopathology.

Prenatal indoor air pollution and maternal psychosocial factors have been associated with adverse psychopathology. We used environmental-exposure mixture methodology to investigate joint effects of both exposure classes on child behavior trajectories. For 360 children from the South African Drakenstein Child Health Study, we created trajectories of Child Behavior Checklist scores (at 24, 42, and 60 months) using latent-class linear mixed effects models.

Joint effects of prenatal exposure to indoor air pollution and psychosocial factors on early life inflammation.

It is hypothesized that air pollution and stress impact the central nervous system through neuroinflammatory pathways Despite this, the association between prenatal exposure to indoor air pollution and psychosocial factors on inflammatory markers in infancy has been underexplored in epidemiology studies. This study investigates the individual and joint effects of prenatal exposure to indoor air pollution and psychosocial factors on early life inflammation (interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)). We analyzed data from the South African Drakenstein Child Health Study (N = 225).

Efficacy of a dialogic book-sharing intervention in a South African birth cohort: A randomized controlled trial.

Objective: Evidence shows that dialogic book-sharing improves language development in young children in low-middle income countries (LMICs), particularly receptive and expressive language. It is unclear whether this intervention also boosts development of other neurocognitive and socio-emotional domains in children. Using a randomized controlled trial (RCT) nested in the Drakenstein Child Health Study (DCHS), a book-sharing intervention was implemented in caregivers of 3.

Early Childhood Violence Exposure Patterns in The Drakenstein Child Health Study (DCHS).

: Research has highlighted high rates of exposure to violence among South African youth. However, work to date has been largely cross-sectional, focused on violence exposure during the adolescence period, and has been limited to specific types of violence exposure. We examined violence exposure in South African preschool children between 3 and 6 years of age, capturing both direct and indirect forms of violence, and tested for potential sex differences across the several types of exposures.

Sensitive periods for exposure to indoor air pollutants and psychosocial factors in association with symptoms of psychopathology at school-age in a South African birth cohort.

Background: Gestation and the first few months of life are important periods for brain development. During these periods, exposure to environmental toxicants and psychosocial stressors are particularly harmful and may impact brain development. Specifically, exposure to indoor air pollutants (IAP) and psychosocial factors (PF) during these sensitive periods has been shown to predict childhood psychopathology.

Joint Effects of Indoor Air Pollution and Maternal Psychosocial Factors During Pregnancy on Trajectories of Early Childhood Psychopathology.

Background: Prenatal indoor air pollution and maternal psychosocial factors have been associated with adverse psychopathology. We used environmental exposure mixture methodology to investigate joint effects of both exposure classes on child behavior trajectories.

Methods: For 360 children from the South African Drakenstein Child Health Study, we created trajectories of Child Behavior Checklist scores (24, 42, 60 months) using latent class linear mixed effects models.

Mental health and adaptive functioning among school-aged children living with HIV in Zambia.

Background: The number of children living with HIV (CLWHIV) has been increasing, reflected by lower mortality. However, this change is coupled with higher rates of morbidity, where CLWHIV face considerable challenges, including neurocognitive delays and mental health and behavioral functioning challenges. Despite Sub-Sahara accounting for the highest number of CLWHIV, there is still limited research on the effects of HIV on child mental health and adaptive functioning.

Stability and change in the interpretation of facial emotions in fetal alcohol spectrum disorders from childhood to adolescence.

Background: The ability to identify and interpret facial emotions plays a critical role in effective social functioning, which may be impaired in individuals with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). We previously reported deficits in children with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and partial FAS (PFAS) on the "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" (RME) test, which assesses the interpretation of facial emotion. This follow-up study in adolescents was designed to determine whether this impairment persists or represents a developmental delay; to classify the RME stimuli by valence (positive, negative, or neutral) and determine whether RME deficits differ by affective valence; and to explore how components of executive function mediate these associations.

Externalizing behavior in preschool children in a South African birth cohort: Predictive pathways in a high-risk context.

Mental health problems often begin in early childhood. However, the associations of various individual and contextual risk factors with mental health in the preschool period are incompletely understood, particularly in low- to middle-income countries (LMICs) where multiple risk factors co-exist. To address this gap, we prospectively followed 981 children in a South African birth cohort, the Drakenstein Child Health Study, assessing pre-and postnatal exposures and risk factors.

Theory of Mind and Moral Decision-Making in the Context of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Social impairment in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has been linked to Theory of Mind (ToM) deficits. However, little research has investigated the relationship between ToM and moral decision-making in children with ASD. This study compared moral decision-making and ToM between aggregate-matched ASD and neurotypical boys (n = 38 per group; aged 6-12).

Pupillary and Attentional Responses to Infant Facial Expressions in Mothers Across Socioeconomic Variations.

Maternal responses to infant facial expressions were examined in two socioeconomically diverse samples of South African mothers (Study I, N = 111; and Study II, N = 214; age: 17-44 years) using pupil and gaze tracking. Study I showed increased pupil response to infant distress expressions in groups recruited from private as compared to public maternity clinics, possibly reflecting underlying differences in socioeconomic status (SES) across the groups. Study II, sampling uniformly low-SES neighborhoods, found increased pupil dilation and faster orientation to expressions of infant distress, but only in the highest income group.

Leftward cradling bias in males and its relation to autistic traits and lateralised emotion processing.

Recent research has identified a leftward cradling bias in males, although males are much less lateralised than females. It has been suggested that on an individual level this leftward bias is strengthened as males acquire caregiving experience. Furthermore, recent explanations propose that leftward cradling bias is facilitated by right-hemispheric specialisation for processing facial emotions.

Fetal Alcohol Exposure Alters BOLD Activation Patterns in Brain Regions Mediating the Interpretation of Facial Affect.

Background: Although deficits in the interpretation of affective facial expressions have been described clinically and in behavioral studies of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on the neural networks that mediate affective appraisal have not previously been examined.

Methods: We administered a nonverbal event-related fMRI affective appraisal paradigm to 64 children (mean age = 12.5 years; 18 with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) or partial FAS (PFAS), 18 nonsyndromal heavily exposed (HE), and 28 controls).

Depressive symptoms disrupt leftward cradling.

Leftward cradling bias is thought to facilitate optimal interaction between mother and infant. There is mixed evidence indicating this bias may be disrupted by depression. This study investigated the relationship between depressive symptoms and preferred cradling side (i.

Prenatal alcohol exposure is associated with early motor, but not language development in a South African cohort.

Objective: To investigate the association of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) and early neurodevelopment in the first 2 years of life, adjusting for maternal socio-demographic and psychosocial factors, in the Drakenstein Child Health Study (DCHS), a South African birth cohort study.

Methods: The DCHS comprises a population-based birth cohort of 1143 children, of which a subsample completed the Bayley Scales of Infant Development-III (BSID-III) at 6 (n = 260) and 24 months of age (n = 734). A subset of alcohol-exposed and -unexposed children was included in this analysis at age 6 (n = 52 exposed; n = 104 unexposed) and 24 months (n = 92 exposed; n = 184 unexposed).

Effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on language, speech and communication outcomes: a review longitudinal studies.

Objective: The aim of this paper was to provide a systematic review and update on the available longitudinal studies on the impact of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) on language, speech and communication development, as well as associated potential environmental confounders during the preschool period.

Methods: A literature search was restricted to English, full-text, peer-reviewed, longitudinal studies in from 1970 until present: PUBMed, Scopus, Web of Science {C-e Collection, Biological Abstracts, KCI-Kean Journal Database, Russian Science Citation Index, SciELO Citation Index, Zoological Rec-d}, Academic Search Premier (Africa-Wide Information, CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycINFO. Keywords included: prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE); speech or language or communication outcomes; neurocognitive or neurodevelopment or neurobehavioral or neurobehavioural; infant or baby or toddler or preschooler; longitudinal or follow-up.

The development of children's preferences for equality and equity across 13 individualistic and collectivist cultures.

A concern for fairness is a fundamental and universal element of morality. To examine the extent to which cultural norms are integrated into fairness cognitions and influence social preferences regarding equality and equity, a large sample of children (N 2,163) aged 4-11 were tested in 13 diverse countries. Children participated in three versions of a third-party, contextualized distributive justice game between two hypothetical recipients differing in terms of wealth, merit, and empathy.

Drakenstein Child Health Study (DCHS): investigating determinants of early child development and cognition.

Introduction: There is growing awareness that psychosocial risk and resilience factors in early life play a key role in influencing later health. Most work has been done in high-income settings, rather than low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), where the majority of the global childhood population resides. The few studies with well-defined cohorts in LMICs have employed various methods and measures, making comparisons across studies challenging.