Types Of Repetitive Behaviors Research Articles

The Repetitive Behavior Scale-Revised: Independent Validation in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and a Control Group in Albania

A key feature of autism is restricted repetitive behavior (RRB). Despite the significance of RRBs, little is known about their phenomenology, assessment, and treatment. The objective of this study is the vvalidation of the Albanian version of the RBS-R in an independent sample of ASD children. In order to validate the RBS-R in an independent sample, a survey was conducted in Albania at National Center of Childrens’ Rehabilitation including 30 children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and a control group of 30 children without ASD. Factor analyses produced a five-factor solution that was both clinically meaningful and statistically sound, namely: Ritualistic/Sameness Behavior, Stereotypic Behavior, Self-Injurious Behavior, Compulsive Behavior and Restricted Interests. Measures of internal consistency were good for this five-subscale solution. The effects of baseline characteristics (age and gender) were examined. Cronbach’s alpha was used to measure internal consistency. The alpha values for the five subscales, ranged from 0.72 (Stereotypic) to 0.85 (Ritualistic/ Sameness Behavior). All values are within or above the acceptable range for research purposes. The Albanian version of RBS-R appears to have sound psychometric characteristics and can be used to differentiate various types of repetitive behaviors.

P457. Damage to Elements of the Cortico-Striatal-Thalamo-Cortical Circuit are Associated With Repetitive Behaviors in Patients With Penetrating Brain Injury

Damage to cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical (CSTC) circuits is associated with the development of repetitive behaviors in animals and humans. However, the types of repetitive behaviors that are developed after injury to these structures are poorly defined.

Damage to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is associated with repetitive compulsive behaviors in patients with penetrating brain injury

BackgroundDamage to cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical (CSTC) circuits is associated with the development of repetitive behaviours in animals and humans. However, the types of repetitive behaviours that are developed after injury to these...

The validity and reliability study of the Repetitive Behavior Scale-Revised- Turkish Version in autism spectrum disorder

Objective: One of the diagnosis criteria for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is repetitive behaviors and the severity of the repetitive behaviors is an important variable in identifying the severity of the disorder as well. In the current study the Repetitive Behavior Scale-Revised (RBS-R-TV), which is used to assess the severity and types of re-petitive behaviors in individuals with ASD, is adapted to Turkish and psychometric characteristics of the Turkish form are examined. Method: The participants consisted of 292 individuals with ASD, who were 3 to 23 years old (M=240, F=52). The parents of the participant individuals were asked to fill the RBS-R-TV. The ASD diagnosis of the participants were confirmed by Gilliam Autism Rating Scale-2-Turkish Form (TV-GARS-2). To measure validity of the scale; content, construct, criterion, and predictive validity analyses were conducted, and for reliability the scale’s internal consistency was examined by calculating the Cronbach’s alpha coefficients. Findings: The analyses showed that RBS-R-TV has good content validity, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) revealed that it has a six factor structure, and model fit indices showed a good fit (χ2/df=2.00, RMSEA=0.059, SRMR=0.067, NNFI=0.94, CFI=0.94). Discriminant validity indicated that children with ASD had significantly higher scores than the children with intellectual disabilities in RBS-R-TV and predictive validity analysis showed that total scores obtained from RBS-R-TV significantly predicted the severity of autistic disorder. As the reliability analysis, internal consistency coefficients were between 0.73 to 0.94 for sub scales and the total score. Discussion: Analyses showed that RBS-R-TV is a valid and reliable tool for the use of diagnosticians, researchers, and educators.

Developmental trajectories as autism phenotypes.

Numerous studies of Autism Spectrum Disorder have attempted to link behavioral phenotypes to genetic findings. Reliance on cross-sectional behavioral data in samples that span wide age ranges may have limited this endeavor because ASD behaviors are not static within individuals across development. This study uses quantitative methods to describe specific aspects of changes in autism-related and more general behaviors in order to yield trajectories that could be used in place of single time-point data as behavioral phenotypes in neurobiological studies of both Autism Spectrum Disorders and overlapping conditions. Building on previous analyses, we examined trajectories of parent-reported social-communication deficits, social adaptive functioning, and two types of repetitive behaviors, repetitive sensory motor (RSM) behaviors and insistence on sameness (IS) behaviors, in a relatively large sample of participants referred for possible autism at age 2 years and followed into young adulthood (n=85). A strength of this sample was the diverse range of outcomes, including young adults with intellectual disability and persistent autism related difficulties, those with IQs in the borderline or average range who continued to experience functional impairment related to Autism Spectrum Disorders, and a small group of young adults (n=8) with IQs in the average range who were judged to be functioning socially and adaptively at age-appropriate levels at age 19 years, despite a previous childhood diagnosis of autism.

Repetitive behaviors in the Shank1 knockout mouse model for autism spectrum disorder: developmental aspects and effects of social context.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by persistent deficits in social behavior and communication, together with restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior. Several ASD candidate genes have been identified, including the SHANK gene family with its three family members SHANK1, SHANK2, and SHANK3. Typically, repetitive behavior in mouse models for ASD is assessed by measuring self-grooming behavior. The first aim of the current study was to assess repetitive behaviors in Shank1(-/-) null mutant, Shank1(+/-) heterozygous, and Shank1(+/+) wildtype littermate control mice by means of a comprehensive approach, including the assessment of self-grooming, digging behavior, and marble burying. The second aim was to establish a test paradigm that allows for assessing the effects of social context on the occurrence of repetitive behaviors in a genotype-dependent manner. To this aim, repetitive behaviors were repeatedly tested on three consecutive days in distinct social contexts, namely in presence or absence of social odors. Shank1(+/-) heterozygous and to a lesser extent Shank1(-/-) null mutant mice displayed slightly elevated levels of self-grooming behavior as adults, but not as juveniles, with genotype differences being most prominent in the social context. In contrast to elevated self-grooming behavior, marble burying was strongly reduced in adult Shank1(+/-) heterozygous and Shank1(-/-) null mutant mice across social contexts, as compared to adult Shank1(+/+) wildtype littermate controls. The opposite effects of the Shank1 deletion on the two types of repetitive behaviors are in line with a number of studies on repetitive behaviors in other genetic Shank models.

Electrodermal and behavioral responses of children with autism spectrum disorders to sensory and repetitive stimuli.

Parents frequently report that their children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) respond atypically to sensory stimuli. Repetitive behaviors are also part of the ASD behavioral profile. Abnormal physiological arousal may underlie both of these symptoms. Electrodermal activity (EDA) is an index of sympathetic nervous system arousal. The goals of this study were twofold: (1) to pilot methods for collecting EDA data in young children and (2) to examine hypothesized relationships among EDA, and sensory symptoms and repetitive behaviors in children with ASD as compared with children with typical development. EDA was recorded on 54 young children with ASD and on 33 children with typical development (TD) during a protocol that included baseline, exposure to sensory and repetitive stimuli, and play. Parents completed standardized questionnaires regarding their child's sensory symptoms and repetitive behaviors. Frequency and type of repetitive behavior during play was coded offline. Comparisons between EDA data for ASD and TD groups indicated no significant between-group differences in any measures. Parents of children with ASD reported more abnormal responses to sensory stimuli and more repetitive behaviors, but scores on these measures were not significantly correlated with EDA or with frequency of observed repetitive behaviors. Parent report of frequency and severity of sensory symptoms was significantly correlated with reports of repetitive behaviors in both groups. Although parents of children with ASD report high levels of sensory symptoms and repetitive behaviors, these differences are not related to measured EDA arousal or reactivity.

Relationships among repetitive behaviors, sensory features, and executive functions in high functioning autism

This study examined the relationship between repetitive behaviors and sensory processing issues in school-aged children with high functioning autism (HFA). Children with HFA ( N = 61) were compared to healthy, typical controls ( N = 64) to determine the relationship between these behavioral classes and to examine whether executive dysfunction explained any relationship between the variables. Particular types of repetitive behavior (i.e., stereotypy and compulsions) were related to sensory features in autism; however, executive deficits were only correlated with repetitive behavior. This finding suggests that executive dysfunction is not the shared neurocognitive mechanism that accounts for the relationship between restricted, repetitive behaviors and aberrant sensory features in HFA. Group status, younger chronological age, presence of sensory processing issues, and difficulties with behavior regulation predicted the presence of repetitive behaviors in the HFA group.

Commentary: considerations on the pharmacological treatment of compulsions and stereotypies with serotonin reuptake inhibitors in pervasive developmental disorders.

Repetitive or ritualized behaviors have been considered an integral part of autistic disorder since Kanner’s original description in 1943. Presently 5 of the 13 DSM-IV criteria refer to stereotyped, repetitive, or ritualized behavior patterns of different types. Repetitive nonpurposeful motor behaviors of both involuntary (tics) and voluntary (motor stereotypies) nature are very frequently present. A desire for “sameness” and inflexible adherence to routines is combined with internal discomfort if such rituals are not closely followed in nearly all patients. Perseveration in terms of langugage use and interests is uniformly present. Finally, more typical obsessive-compulsive behaviors such as collecting, counting, and washing rituals are also frequently present. Strict and inflexible adherence to self-directed, repetitive patters of thinking and behaving and the tension, tantruming, and aggression which occur when one attempts to interfere with them impose major obstacles to learning and social development in autism. The relationship between these different types of repetitive behavior on a neurophysiological level is unclear. Nonselective and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and dopamine blockers (typical and atypical neuroleptic agents) have been the two classes of medications most helpful for reducing the impact of some of these behaviors on academic and social functioning. This discussion is focused on the serotonin reuptake blockers since neuroleptics are discussed elsewhere. The nonselective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, clomipramine, was shown to be differentially effective in treating autistic symptomatology with both placebo and the primarily noradrenergic tricyclic agent desipramine in a double-blind comparison in 24 children with autism and adolescents (Gordon, State, Nelson, Hamburger, & Rapoport, 1993). Clomipramine improved obsessive-compulsive symptoms as hypothesized.

A new type of repetitive behavior in a high-energy transient

The high-energy burster GB 790107 has been observed to repeat, on the order of 100 times, between August 13, 1978 and June 27, 1986, with most repetitions occurring in the latter part of 1983. Here, these activities are described, discussing intensity and time-of-occurrence information covering a seven-year span of International Cometary Explorer (ICE) data. Arguments for the reality of this activity and its association with the GB 790107 source are presented. A moderately precise location derived from ICE, SMM, Pioneer Venus Orbiter, and Venera 13 Signe data is given and related to the published GB 790107 location.