Heterogeneities in Cognitive and Socio-Emotional Development in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Severe Intellectual Disability as a Comorbidity.

Introduction: Intellectual disability (ID) is frequently associated as a comorbidity in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This study investigated a) how similar the heterogeneity in the cognitive and socio-emotional developmental profiles was for children with ASD and ID, b) the difference between the subjects' profiles and those of typically developing children (TD) matched for developmental levels, c) the skills existing with the lowest and highest developmental levels, and d) the relationship between developmental profiles in ASD and the severity of autism, ID, and the overall developmental level. Participants: The sample was comprised of 119 children (101 boys and 18 girls) who ranged in chronological age (CA) from 21 months to 14 years (M = 5 years 2 months; SD = 2 years 6 months) with developmental levels lower than 24 months. They came from three countries (France = 40, Brazil = 40, and Algeria = 39). The control group was comprised of 40 TD children from these same countries who ranged in CA from 4 to 24 months (M = 1 year 3 months; SD = 5 months). The ASD diagnosis was carried out according to International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems-10th Edition (ICD-10), Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR), Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5th ed (DSM-5) criteria and the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS). Measures: Children were tested using the Social Cognitive Evaluation Battery (SCEB; Adrien, 2007) by trained psychologists from public and private institutions specialized in the diagnosis of autism and interventions in this field. The SCEB explores 16 functional abilities, in both cognitive and socio-emotional areas, and allows the calculation of domain and area developmental levels and heterogeneity indices for the global, cognitive, and socio-emotional areas. Results: Children with ASD developmental profiles show very high heterogeneity as opposed to TD children. Regardless of the country of origin, there are similarities between the heterogeneous cognitive and socio-emotional developmental profiles of the children with ASD, whose profiles are characterized by lower developmental levels of language and vocal imitation skills, and a relationship between these developmental heterogeneities and the degree of severity of autistic symptomatology, intellectual disability, and overall development level. The implications of this study are presented for clinical assessment and intervention purposes in ASD and ID.

Escala de concepçôes educativas morais (ECEM) / Scale of moral educational conceptions (SMEC)

O objetivo deste artigo é apresentar o processo de construçâo e validaçâo da Escala de Concepçôes Educativas Morais (ECEM). A ECEM é um instrumento que investiga as concepçôes educativas de pais e mâes sobre os construtos obediência, respeito, justiça e autonomia, pensados na relaçâo com seus filhos. Participaram do estudo 860 pais e mâes representativos das cinco regiôes do Brasil. A análise de conteúdo descreveu e confirmou a construçâo dos itens e a referência aos seus construtos. A análise fatorial confirmatória sugeriu como aceitável a estrutura multifatorial confirmando os quatro construtos (GFI = 0.933, AGFI = 0.919 e RMSEA = 0.0702). A ECEM apresentou-se, portanto, como um instrumento de medida com características psicométricas adequadas. Em relaçâo aos instrumentos de medida de juízo e competência moral mais utilizados no Brasil, a ECEM apresenta a originalidade da possibilidade de investigaçâo das concepçôes morais dos participantes sobre os tipos de relaçôes sociais que se estabelecem no tocante aos construtos obediência, respeito, justiça e autonomia.

The purpose of this article is to present the process of construction and validation of the Scale of Moral Educational Conceptions (SMEC). The SMEC is an instrument that investigates the educational conceptions of parents in relation to the constructs of obedience, respect, justice and autonomy conceived in relation to their children. The study included 860 fathers and mothers representing the five regions of Brazil. The content analysis described and confirmed the construction of the items and the reference to the constructs. The confirmatory factor analysis suggested as acceptable to the multifactorial structure, confirming the four constructs (GFI = 0.933, AGFI = 0.919 and RMSEA = 0.0702). Therefore, the SMEC is a measuring instrument with adequate psychometric characteristics. In relation to the instruments of measurement of judgment and moral competence more used in Brazil, the SMEC presents the original possibility of investigating the moral conceptions of the participants in relation to the types of social relationships that are established with regard to the constructs of obedience, respect, justice and autonomy