A selection from Stockholm University publication database

• Rare variants in the outcome of social skills group training for autism

  2021. Danyang Li (et al.). Autism Research

  Article

  Exome sequencing has been proposed as the first-tier genetic testing in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Here, we performed exome sequencing in autistic individuals with average to high intellectual abilities (N = 207) to identify molecular diagnoses and genetic modifiers of intervention outcomes of social skills group training (SSGT) or standard care. We prioritized variants of clinical significance (VCS), variants of uncertain significance (VUS) and generated a pilot scheme to calculate genetic scores of rare and common variants in ASD-related gene pathways. Mixed linear models were used to test the association between the carrier status of VCS/VUS or the genetic scores with intervention outcomes measured by the social responsiveness scale. Additionally, we combined behavioral and genetic features using a machine learning (ML) model to predict the individual response. We showed a rate of 4.4% and 11.3% of VCS and VUS in the cohort, respectively. Individuals with VCS or VUS had improved significantly less after standard care than non-carriers at post-intervention (β = 9.35; p = 0.036), while no such association was observed for SSGT (β = −2.50; p = 0.65). Higher rare variant genetic scores for synaptic transmission and regulation of transcription from RNA polymerase II were separately associated with less beneficial (β = 8.30, p = 0.0044) or more beneficial (β = −6.79, p = 0.014) effects after SSGT compared with standard care at follow-up, respectively. Our ML model showed the importance of rare variants for outcome prediction. Further studies are needed to understand genetic predisposition to intervention outcomes in ASD.

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• Treatment satisfaction with cognitive-behavioral therapy among children and adolescents with anxiety and depression

  2021. Nora Choque Olsson (et al.). Journal of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy 31 (2), 147-191

  Article

  Recent reviews estimated that the worldwide prevalence of anxiety and depression in children and adolescents is increasing, which has led to rising demands for treatment. Studies on clinical outcomes have shown positive effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in children and adolescents with anxiety and depression. However, there is a limited body of studies on the perspectives and experiences of the treatment participants. The objective of this review was to investigate treatment satisfaction with CBT among children and adolescents with anxiety and depression. We focused on the reporting quality of the treatment satisfaction and experiences of participants in the selected studies. From 1379 identified studies, 35 were selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. The results of a meta-synthesis and proportional meta-analysis suggest moderate to high treatment satisfaction with CBT in depressed and anxious children and adolescents. The included studies showed moderate to good reporting quality on treatment satisfaction. The measurements used varied, indicating a risk of different evaluations under the concept of “treatment satisfaction”. The common topics measured for treatment satisfaction were acceptability, treatment usefulness, alliance, barriers, recommendation, and others, leading to uncertainty concerning generalization. A wide variety of measures were used, indicating the need for standardized measures for treatment satisfaction in future research.

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Show all publications by Nora Choque Olsson at Stockholm University