Prenatal, perinatal, postnatal risk factors, and excess screen time in autism spectrum disorder

BACKGROUND

The aim of this study was to investigate pre-, peri-, and postnatal factors, screen time in a group of patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and age and sex-matched clinical controls to evaluate risk factors specific to ASD.

METHODS

The study included 211 ASD patients (177 boys, 34 girls; mean age 44.3 ± 13.0 months) and 241 (190 boys, 51 girls; mean age 44.6 ± 14.1 months) age and sex group matched clinical controls. Non-ASD diagnoses were expressive language disorder (n = 135, 56.0%), intellectual disability (n = 15, 6.2%), attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (n = 6, 2.4%), oppositional disorder (n = 6, 2.4%), and other behavioral or emotional problems (no diagnosis; n = 79, 32.8%). A sociodemographic data form was used to collect data regarding pre-, peri-, and postnatal factors and total daily screen exposure.

RESULTS

According to our findings, maternal severe psychological stress and depression during pregnancy, and maternal postpartum depression were more frequent in the ASD group (p = 0.005, p = 0.035, and p = 0.001 respectively). There was a statistically significant difference between groups with regards to maternal any medication use during pregnancy (p = 0.004). The mean duration of daily screen exposure was higher in the ASD group (9.90 ± 5.10 h) compared to non-ASD children (4.46 ± 3.40 h; p < 0.001). A ROC curve showed that 8.5 h and above total daily screen exposure (AUC = 0.808 [95% CI: 0.769-0.848], p < 0.001; 55% sensitivity, 90.5% specificity) is likely to be associated with increased risk for ASD.

CONCLUSION

Our study suggests that prenatal maternal psychological stress, prenatal and postpartum depression, and excess exposure to screen might be related to an increased risk for ASD.

Video game playing among preschoolers: prevalence and home environment in three provinces from Turkey

We aimed to investigate the video game habits and their relationship with home environment in children 2-5 years in Turkey. A structured questionnaire about the child's demographic, screen, and video gaming characteristics was completed by parents in five health centers from three provinces. One-quarter of 1245 preschoolers were found to play video games. The prevalence of playing video games was higher in older age, male gender, low parental education, families with 3 or more children, having a game console, computers and tablets at home, child's screen time of more than 2 hours per day, child's non-compliance with the parental screen rules, and presence of someone else playing videogame at home. Of the parents, 54.5% did not know the name of the video game the child was playing. Parents should be counseled about supervising on their children's video game playing habits and selection of well-designed games with the right content.

The Psychosocial Well-Being of Young Video-Gamer Children: A Comparison Study

Objective:

In recent years, young children from all socioeconomic conditions found an opportunity to own or access video game devices. The precisely defined effects of video gaming on young children’s behaviors and mental health are unknown. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the psychosocial well-being and video gaming in preschool children.

Materials and Methods:

The video gamer (n = 70) and non-gamer (n = 140) children between 2 and 6 years old and their mothers were included in the study. Psychosocial well-being was assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire parent version. Multivariable logistic regressions were used.

Results:

30% of the video gamers played video games for more than 1 hour per day. Factors associated with video gaming included sex, birth order, age of first screen exposure, daily screen time, and parent(s) video gaming. Being a boy, having a daily screen time of more than 1 hour and parent(s) video gaming increased the probability of video gaming [Odds (95% CI) = 3.00 (1.42-6.31), P = .004; 6.28 (2.86-13.80), P < .001; 6.49 (2.77-15.23), P < .001, respectively]. Not being the first child and having an age of first screen exposure older than 12 months old decreased the probability of video gaming [Odds (95% CI) = 0.29 (0.11-0.76), P = .012; 0.34 (0.13-0.89), P = .027, respectively]. Video gamers and non-gamers had statistically similar Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire scores. There was no association between video gaming and being borderline or abnormal in emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, peer relationship problems, prosocial behavior, and total difficulties.

Conclusion:

This study investigating the relationship between psychosocial well-being and video gaming revealed that video gaming is not associated with psychosocial well-being in preschool age.

Excessive screen time is associated with maternal rejection behaviours in pre-school children

AIM

Early childhood screen exposure leads to multiple adverse health events and parents have a major influence on their children's screen time. Our aim was to determine the association between maternal acceptance-rejection/control behaviours and excessive screen exposure in pre-school children.

METHODS

In this cross-sectional descriptive study, children aged 2-5 years who had daily screen time <1 h (n = 76) and >4 h (n = 62) were enrolled. A structured survey form and Parental Acceptance-Rejection/Control Questionnaire were completed by mothers.

RESULTS

Total rejection scores were found to be lower in those with screen time <1 h than cases with >4 h (82.7 ± 13.2, 89.3 ± 17.2; P = 0.015). In addition, higher hostility, neglect and reverse-affection scores were detected in excessive screen-exposed group (P = 0.033, P = 0.003, P = 0.047, respectively). Multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that mothers' low acceptance of their children and high neglect score were associated with excessive screen exposure after adjusting possible confounding factors. The undifferentiated rejection and control behaviours of the mothers had no association with excessive screen exposure.

CONCLUSION

Children with excessive screen time may have a problematic relationship with their mothers. The relationship between parent and child should be examined and corrective actions should be taken.

A comparative study of oculomotor, trochlear and abducens nerves in Arabian foals

We investigated the microscopic structure of transverse sections of the oculomotor, trochlear and abducens nerves of Arabian foals using stereological methods. Bilateral nerve pairs from 2-month-old female Arabian foals were analyzed. The tissues were embedded in plastic blocks, then 1 µm thick sections were cut and stained with osmium tetroxide and methylene blue-azure II. Stereology was performed using light microscopy. Morphometry showed that the right and left pairs of nerves were similar. The transverse sectional areas of the oculomotor, trochlear and abducens nerves were 1.93 ± 0.19 mm², 0.32 ± 0.06 mm² and 0.70 ± 0.08 mm², respectively. The oculomotor nerve exhibited a significantly greater number of myelinated axons (16755 ± 1279) and trochlear (2656 ± 494) and the abducens nerves (4468 ± 447). The ratio of the axon diameter to myelinated nerve fiber diameter was 0.58, 0.55 and 0.55 for the oculomotor, trochlear and abducens nerves, respectively. Of the three nerves studied, the abducens nerve exhibited the greatest nerve fiber area, myelin area, nerve and axon diameters, and myelin thickness. The ratio of small myelinated nerve fibers was greatest in the oculomotor nerve.