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The aim of the study was to investigate the perception of the family functioning in parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) with normal-range intelligence and the relationships between family functioning, parenting stress and quality of life. Dyads of parents of children with ASD without intellectual disability and parents of typically developing children (controls) completed a set of self-report questionnaires. Parents of children with ASD reported lower functioning of the family as a whole and their own functioning as family members; they exhibited higher levels of parenting stress and lower quality of life. Mothers of children with ASD experienced more stress in personal domain than fathers. Relationships between family functioning, parenting stress and quality of life have been established. There were also moderate to strong correlations in mother-father dyads between their assessments of family functioning, parenting stress and QoL in social relationships and environmental domains.

Background Despite a growing number of adolescents and adults diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), little is known about service needs and barriers to services in this population. Existing research shows that youth with ASD are more underserved as they approach final years of their high school education and that adequate services for individuals with ASD after transition to adulthood are even scarcer. However, few studies have directly compared differences in service availability between adolescents and adults with ASD, and even fewer studies are published on service use outside Anglo-Saxon countries. The purpose of the present study was to examine service access, perceived barriers, and unmet needs, as reported by parents of adolescents and young adults with ASD in Poland. Methods The study used a subsample of parents of young people with ASD (aged 12–38 years; N  = 311) from the Polish Autism Survey – a survey covering different areas of functioning of people with ASD in Poland, based on a convenience sample. Responding parents were recruited via different service providers, social media, and press, and completed a survey using a web platform or a paper-and-pencil questionnaire. Results As expected, adults used services less often than adolescents, with 80.1% of adolescents and 61.1% of adults with ASD using services in the previous 12 months. Mental health services were among the most used and the most needed services, followed by educational services, while needs for sensory/motor services remained largely unmet. Young people with a coexisting intellectual disability used more services than those without it. Non-governmental organizations, private clinics, and schools were the most common service providers. Parents indicated that most of young people with ASD had unmet service needs for services (93.5%) and faced barriers to access them (82.7%). Low-income families and those living outside large cities were at the highest risk of facing barriers to service access. Conclusions The results confirm still a thin body of evidence from different countries suggesting that adolescents and adults with ASD were both largely underserved populations. Policy-makers should address economic, regional, and age-related inequities in access to services for individuals with ASD.

To determine whether a gluten-free diet (GFD) compared with a gluten-containing diet (GD) influences functioning of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), we performed a randomized, controlled, single-blinded trial. Sixty-six children (36–69 months) with ASD, within the normal IQ (> 70) range, who had been on a GFD for at least 8 weeks before enrollment were eligible for inclusion. After an 8-week run-in period on a GFD, the GFD group continued this diet and the GD group consumed at least one normal meal containing gluten per day for 6 months. There were no differences between groups in autistic symptoms, maladaptive behaviors, or intellectual abilities after the intervention. A GFD compared with a GD did not affect functioning of children with ASD.Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02280746.

The Parenting Stress Index (PSI) has been translated into multiple languages. The aim of the present study was to develop a Polish version of the PSI III. A total sample size of 678 parents (308 parents of children with ASD, 59 parents of children with Down syndrome, 65 parents of deaf children, 34 parents of children with other developmental disorders, and 212 parents without developmental disabilities) participated in the study. The Polish version of the PSI III was characterized by: (1) good internal consistency, (2) a three-factor structure, including Parent domain, Child domain, and the children’s and parents’ difficulties in adapting to the external demands resulting from the children’s developmental disorder, and (3) negative correlations between parental stress and parental well-being. Implications for the research and clinical practice are discussed.

Early services for ASD need to canvas the opinions of both parents and professionals. These opinions are seldom compared in the same research study. This study aims to ascertain the views of families and professionals on early detection, diagnosis and intervention services for young children with ASD. An online survey compiled and analysed data from 2032 respondents across 14 European countries (60.9% were parents; 39.1% professionals). Using an ordinal scale from 1 to 7, parents’ opinions were more negative (mean = 4.6; SD 2.2) compared to those of professionals (mean = 4.9; SD 1.5) when reporting satisfaction with services. The results suggest services should take into account child’s age, delays in accessing services, and active stakeholders’ participation when looking to improve services.

Since temperament affects the development of social behaviours and interpersonal relations, the possible links between autistic traits and temperament are of particular interest. The purpose of the study was to explore the relationships between autistic traits and temperamental characteristics in the framework of the Regulative Temperament Theory by Strelau, and the Emotionality, Activity and Sociability theory by Buss and Plomin, with particular emphasis on gender differences. The Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), Formal Characteristics of Behaviour--Temperament Inventory and Temperament Survey for Adults were administered. The participants were 593 university students, including 364 females and 229 males. Results showed positive correlations between autistic traits and Emotional Reactivity, Perseveration, Distress, Fear and Anger, and negative correlations with Activity, Briskness, Endurance and Sociability. The results of multiple regression analyses involving the Autism Spectrum Quotient score as a dependent measure were different for females and males. Results of exploratory PCA analysis showed that AQ score, Sociability and Activity loaded one factor (with AQ loading being opposite to two others). High AQ scorers demonstrated higher Emotional Reactivity, Perseveration, Distress and Anger, and lower Briskness, Endurance, Activity and Sociability as compared to norms for the general population. In this study we showed that temperament measures were able to identify items that correlated in parts with autistic traits, while other items were obverse. The relationships between temperament and autistic traits differ slightly between genders. We assume that with regard to the broader autism phenotype, temperaments might be helpful in characterizing healthy control samples.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many factors have simultaneously affected people’s psychological distress (PD). The most commonly studied types of factors have been those relating to health risks involving SARS-CoV-2 infection and sociodemographic factors. However, financial changes at both the national and global levels and these changes’ influences on people’s personal finances constitute another group of factors with the potential to cause symptoms of anxiety and depression. A correlation study of 1135 working adults in Poland was conducted to analyze the roles of a wide range of financial variables in explaining the extent of people’s PD during the pandemic. Three groups of financial factors predicted PD over and above sociodemographic variables and COVID-19 health-related factors: a person’s objective financial situation, their subjective financial situation, and their individual financial disposition, the last of these being the most important. The present study adds to the current state of knowledge by showing that financial variables explain a significant portion of variance in PD over and above sociodemographic and COVID-19 health-related factors. Moreover, the study also identified individual financial variables that were capable of predicting people’s psychological distress during the pandemic.

So far no standardized screening instrument for autism spectrum disorders for adults has been developed in Poland. The main aim of the study was to explore the properties of the Polish version of the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ), especially its reliability and discriminating power. The second purpose was to establish whether the pattern of sex and area of study differences in the amount of autistic traits found in other countries also exist in Poland. The groups in the study included students (n = 2819), adults with ASD (n = 60) and a non-clinical sample (n = 60) matched with the ASD group for age, sex, education and place of residence. The Polish version of AQ proved to be reliable, although--as in studies conducted in other countries--the internal consistency coefficients for subscales (with exception for social skill) were low. ASD diagnosis was the most powerful determinant of AQ scores. Sex differences in autistic traits and a relationship between autistic traits and area of study were found.

Background and aims The links between gestures and various attentional processes in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder have not been studied sufficiently. Previous studies have highlighted the impact of orienting attention on the efficacy of gestures without exploring the influence of alerting and top–down attentional processes. The aim of the present study was to explore the links between attentional processes and indicators of descriptive, conventional and emotional gestures as well as other aspects of nonverbal communication in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (N = 46). Methods The attention network test and colour trails test were used to measure attentional processes, whereas descriptive, conventional and emotional gestures were assessed using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule and the autism diagnostic interview. Analysis showed a significant correlation between gestures with alerting, orienting and executive attention. Conclusions The relevant structural equation model revealed that attentional processes have an impact on gestures, but gestures do not have an impact on attentional processes. Emotional gestures are linked to alerting. Spatial-visual search was related to facial expression and the integration of nonverbal communication with behaviour. There was no significant interaction between executive attention and gestures. Implications The obtained results are discussed with reference both to gesture development and studies on attention in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder.

 Autism spectrum is characterized by difficulties in social communication and interactions and limited, restricted patterns of behavior, interests, and activity. It is diagnosed and described on the basis of behavioral characteristics. Therefore, behavior research plays a critical role in better understanding the functioning of this group of children. Studies on their interests and curiosity take mainly the form of experiments on visual and object exploration. We argue that important aspects of behavior might be neglected within these studies and propose to refine the approach by incorporating the achievements of classic ethology, contemporary measurement and analytical tools, and the theory of integrative levels. We conclude with an outline of the proposed approach in a short list of major methodological postulates.