Examining Stress and Arousal Across Pubertal Development in ASD

青春期是儿童和成人之间的过渡，恰好与青春期发展相吻合，青春期是一种 心理、生理、荷尔蒙和社会发生显著变化的时期--一个关键和关键的转变 适用于患有自闭症谱系障碍(ASD)的青少年。还会发生各种生理变化， 在初级调节系统中很明显，包括下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺(HPA)轴和 副交感神经系统(PNS)。这些变化导致了增强的唤醒和反应模式 感受到的压力源，这导致了青春期-HPA压力假说。尽管这增强了 责任心可能会帮助个人做好准备，以适应日益增长的需求和新的挑战，它可能 增加患有自闭症的年轻人的易感性，他们已经倾向于增强生理唤醒和贫困 适应变化。总的来说，研究小组的发现表明：1)患有自闭症的儿童表现出 生理调节的变异性更大，对发育过程中的应激反应更强，2)更高 皮质醇与社交互动和降低皮质醇对ASD的社交威胁，3)情绪显著上升 青春期的调节失调(如焦虑)，4)社交功能、压力和 青春期状态和5)发育转变对于预测风险和恢复力是关键的 ASD.因此，我们认为有必要加强对社会和文化之间相互作用的研究。 青春期发育过程中的情绪功能和压力，以检查这一潜在的敏感期 ASD.为了检查青春期的发育变化，这项研究将利用交叉顺序设计，通过 评估男性和女性)10至15岁患有自闭症或典型发育(TD)的儿童 通过跟踪两个队列长达四年的纵向测量。队列1入学时间为10年(跟随10至13年) 而入选12年的队列2(跟随12到15年)将在四年内每年进行一次测量。十字架- 当参与者年龄在12岁和13岁时，将测试分段或队列效应。青春期发育 变化将通过生理学(皮质醇、睾酮、呼吸性窦性心律失常)、行为检查 (临床、行为编码)和人际(自我报告和家长报告)前后采取的措施 社交任务。这项调查的结果可能会提供更好的了解生理和 自闭症儿童和青少年青春期发育的心理过程和变化。此外， 这些指数将与社会功能和情绪幸福感相关，以揭示潜在的 与焦虑和抑郁等共病的关系。因此，首要目标是 检查自闭症青春期发育过程中的压力和性唤醒，以最终确定潜在的风险因素， 治疗目标和治疗策略。

Adolescence, the transition between childhood and adulthood, coincides with pubertal development, which is a time of remarkable psychological, physical, hormonal and social changes – a pivotal and critical transition for adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A variety of physiological changes also occur which is evident in primary regulatory systems including the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis and the Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS). These changes result in patterns of enhanced arousal and response to perceived stressors, which have led to a puberty-HPA stress hypothesis. Although this enhanced responsivity may help prepare the individual to adapt to increased demands and new challenges, it may increase vulnerability in youth with ASD who are already prone to enhanced physiological arousal and poor adaption to change. Collectively, findings from the research team have shown: 1) children with ASD exhibit more variability in physiological regulation and heightened response to stress over development, 2) higher cortisol to social interaction and lower cortisol to social threat in ASD, 3) a significant rise in emotion dysregulation (e.g., anxiety) in adolescence, 4) strong associations between social functioning, stress, and pubertal status, and 5) developmental transitions are pivotal to predicting risk and resiliency in individuals with ASD. Thus, we posit that there is significant need for enhanced study of the interplay between social and emotional functioning and stress across pubertal development to examine this potentially susceptible period in ASD. To examine developmental changes across puberty, the study will utilize a cross-sequential design by assessing male and female) children with ASD or typical development (TD) between 10 and 15 years measured longitudinally by following two cohorts for four years. Cohort 1 enrolled at 10-years (follow 10 to 13) and Cohort 2 enrolled at 12-years (follow 12 to 15) will be measured annually for four years. The cross- sectional or cohort effects will be tested when participants are 12 and 13 years of age. Pubertal development change will be examined by physiological (cortisol, Testosterone, Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia), behavioral (clinical, behavioral coding) and interpersonal (self-report and parent report) measures taken before and after social tasks. The results from this investigation may provide better understanding of the physiological and psychological processes and changes over pubertal development in children and youth with ASD. Moreover, these indices will be examined in relation to social functioning and emotional well-being to reveal potential relationships with comorbid conditions such as anxiety and depression. Thus, the overarching goal is to examine stress and arousal across pubertal development in ASD to ultimately identify potential risk factors, treatment targets, and therapeutic strategies.