DEVELOPMENTAL PROCESSES, TRAJECTORIES, AND OUTCOMES IN AUTISM

项目二解决有关综合征的表达，发展轨迹， 通过检查一组具有独特特征的自闭症儿童， 2岁时患广泛性发育障碍。作为其参与CPEA/STAART的一部分， 在耶鲁大学的一个项目中，孩子们已经完成了标准化和实验性的措施， 在2岁时（时间A）和4岁时（时间B）， B）。目前的建议针对社会和神经心理学过程和诊断结果， 一组8岁的儿童（时间C），此时他们的表现可以预期更充分 表达。该项目的具体目标是围绕发展精神病理学原则制定的 利用我们开发的单一队列和创新成果衡量标准， 孤独症的表现形式的维度。其目的是研究 之间（1）。在时间A和B测量的早期出现的社会过程，以及 沟通能力，社会能力和残疾，以及行为和神经功能结构， 时间C;（2）在时间A和B测量神经心理学过程， 在时间C时的神经心理和社会沟通能力和残疾（如上所述）;并检查 （3）A和B时间的早期社会和神经心理过程是否预测分类诊断 在时间C分配。该项目的设计允许对预测因子进行纵向分析， 结果，以及社会和 神经心理过程和诊断状态。通过映射的连续性和不连续性的 自闭症的主要特征从两岁时首次发现到儿童后期，这项研究有望 有助于阐明发育过程水平上的综合征表达和诊断途径 这使我们能够将导致社会残疾的原因与这种残疾的影响分开。的 提高自闭症表型基本维度的识别和测量能力 与表型界限和诊断分类相关的问题的解决预计将为 研究孤独症的发病机制和制定相关的治疗目标和结果 措施

Project II addresses fundamental questions about syndrome expression, developmental trajectories, and predictors of outcome in autism by examining a uniquely characterized cohort of children identified with a pervasive developmental disorder at 2 years of age. As part of their participation in the CPEA/STAART program project at Yale, the children have completed standardized as well as experimental measures in several core domains of autistic psychopathology at 2 years (Time A) and then again at 4 years of age (Time B). The current proposal targets social and neuropsychological processes and diagnostic outcome in this group of children at 8 years of age (Time C) when their presentation can be expected to be more fully expressed. The specific goals of the project are framed around developmental psychopathology principles that capitalize on a singular cohort and innovative outcome measures that we have developed to capture dimensionality in the manifestation of autistic symptomotology. The aims are to examine the relationship between (1). Early-emerging social processes measured at Times A and B, and outcome measures of communicative competence, social ability and disability, and behavioral and neurofunctional constructs at Time C; (2) Measured neuropsychological processes at Times A and B, and outcome measures of neuropsychological and social communicative abilities and disabilities (as above) at Time C; and examine whether (3) Early social and neuropsychological processes at Times A and B predict categorical diagnostic assignment at Time C. The design of this project permits both a longitudinal analysis of predictors of outcome as well as a cross-sectional examination of the relationships between social and neuropsychological processes and diagnostic status. By mapping the continuities and discontinuities of the central features of autism from first detection at two years of age to later childhood, this study is expected to help clarify syndrome expression and diagnostic pathways at the level of developmental processes as well as permit us to disentangle what leads to social disabilities from the effects of having such disabilities. The improved identification and capacity for measurement of the essential dimensions of the autism phenotype and resolution of issues related to phenotypic boundaries and diagnostic categorization is expected to inform research on the pathogenesis of autism and development of relevant treatment goals and outcome measures