Division of Occupational Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA.
Autism Res. 2010 Apr;3(2):78-87. doi: 10.1002/aur.124.
This study combined parent and observational measures to examine the association between aberrant sensory features and restricted, repetitive behaviors in children with autism (N=67) and those with developmental delays (N=42). Confirmatory factor analysis was used to empirically validate three sensory constructs of interest: hyperresponsiveness, hyporesponsiveness, and sensory seeking. Examining the association between the three derived sensory factor scores and scores on the Repetitive Behavior Scales--Revised revealed the co-occurrence of these behaviors in both clinical groups. Specifically, high levels of hyperresponsive behaviors predicted high levels of repetitive behaviors, and the relationship between these variables remained the same controlling for mental age. We primarily found non-significant associations between hyporesponsiveness or sensory seeking and repetitive behaviors, with the exception that sensory seeking was associated with ritualistic/sameness behaviors. These findings suggest that shared neurobiological mechanisms may underlie hyperresponsive sensory symptoms and repetitive behaviors and have implications for diagnostic classification as well as intervention.
本研究结合了家长和观察测量，以检验自闭症儿童（N=67）和发育迟缓儿童（N=42）中异常感觉特征与受限、重复行为之间的关联。验证性因子分析用于实证验证三个感兴趣的感觉结构：超敏反应、低敏反应和感觉寻求。检查三个衍生感觉因子得分与重复行为量表修订版得分之间的关联，发现这些行为在两个临床组中同时发生。具体来说，高水平的超敏反应行为预测高水平的重复行为，并且在控制心理年龄的情况下，这些变量之间的关系仍然保持不变。我们主要发现低敏反应或感觉寻求与重复行为之间没有显著关联，但感觉寻求与仪式化/相似行为有关。这些发现表明，共同的神经生物学机制可能是超敏感觉症状和重复行为的基础，并对诊断分类以及干预具有意义。
