Latest ASD research and news: What you need to know

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force last week issued recommendations suggesting that current evidence is insufficient to support universal autism spectrum disorder screening for children aged 18 to 30 months, unless concerns are raised by parents or clinicians.

Listed below is a sampling of the latest news and research on autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Here’s what you need to know:

1. The latest ASD screening recommendation released by the USPSTF has raised concern among psychiatrists

In an editorial published in JAMA Psychiatry, two psychiatrists expressed significant concern regarding the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendations on ASD screening.

“Finding insufficient evidence that screening for ASD changes outcomes in 18- to 30-month-old children, the USPSTF landed in a gray zone of neither supporting nor opposing screening. Instead, they deferred decision making to families and clinicians,” Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele, MD, of Columbia University, New York, and Kelly McGuire, MD, MPA, of Center for Autism and Developmental Disorders, Maine Behavioral Healthcare, Portland, wrote in the editorial. Read more.

2. Extremely preterm infants are at an increased risk for ASD

The rate of ASD was greater among children born very preterm, according to data published in Pediatrics. The results suggest an increased risk for ASD among children in that population. Read more.

3. ASD, ADHD may be influenced by antidepressant-factors, but not antidepressant use

Recent findings published in Molecular Psychiatry indicate the risk for ASD and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder could be influenced by factors associated with prenatal antidepressant use, but not antidepressant use itself. Read more.

4. Maternal obesity and diabetes are associated with higher risk for ASD

Maternal prepregnancy obesity and maternal diabetes, in combination, were associated with an increased risk for ASD and intellectual disability diagnoses in children, according to data published in Pediatrics. Read more.

5. Youth with gender dysphoria could be at an increased risk for ASD

Researchers from Boston Children’s Hospital and colleagues indicated that there were higher rates of Asperger’s syndrome among children and adolescents with gender dysphoria. Read more.