PubMed HealthSearch

Biomedical subjects

M Rutter

Publications and source records attributed to M Rutter.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Infantile autism and developmental receptive dysphasia: a comparative follow-up into middle childhood.

An interim follow-up study of a group of "higher functioning" boys with infantile autism and control group of boys with severe (receptive) developmental language disorder (or dysphasia) is reported. The boys were compared both initially and at follow-up for overall functioning in the areas of language, peer relationships, stereotyped behaviors, and disruptive public behaviors, as well as for the presence of a number of specific symptoms. In some respects, the behaviors that differentiated the groups initially did so also at follow-up, although there were important differences. Very few of the autistic boys had good language skills at follow-up, whereas nearly half of the dysphasic group were communicating well, a difference that is striking in view of the initial general similarity between the groups in terms of poor language functioning. However, some of the dysphasic children had developed greater difficulties in peer relationships. The implications for concepts of the nature of the deficit in severe receptive developmental language disorders are considered.

Autistic Disorder

Autism diagnostic interview: a standardized investigator-based instrument.

The development of a new standardized investigator-based interview for use in the differential diagnosis of pervasive developmental disorders is described, together with a diagnostic algorithm (using ICD-10 criteria) based on its use. Good interrater reliability for algorithm items was shown between four raters, two in Canada and two in the UK, who rated 32 videotaped interviews. The items also significantly discriminated between 16 autistic and 16 nonautistic mentally handicapped subjects. The algorithm based on ICD-10 identified all 16 autistic individuals and none of the 16 nonautistic subjects.

Adolescent

Isle of Wight revisited: twenty-five years of child psychiatric epidemiology.

Child psychiatric epidemiology over the last 25 years is reviewed in terms of conceptual and methodological issues arising out of substantive findings. The Isle of Wight surveys undertaken in the mid-1960s are briefly described to establish a starting point, and progress since then is reviewed in terms of topics not originally covered--especially problems in preschool children and specific psychiatric disorders. The use of epidemiology to study causal hypotheses is considered, methodological advances are noted, and challenges for the future are discussed.

Child

Mothers' speech to autistic children: a preliminary causal analysis.

Changes over time in the language patterns of autistic children and their parents were examined during the course of a home-based intervention programme. Although the language used by parents to their autistic children was not deficient, language modification procedures were found to lead to rapid changes in the verbal interaction between parents and children. Parents in the non-intervention, control group showed little change in their communication style. In the experimental group, but not in the control group, a close relationship was found between increases in the use of language-eliciting utterances by their mothers and improvements in children's socialized language. The pattern of association between parent and child language suggested that the main effect was of the parent on the child but that the extent of the child's language handicap constrained what could be achieved by treatment.

Autistic Disorder

Recognition and expression of emotional cues by autistic and normal adults.

High-functioning autistic adults were compared with normal adults using a battery of tests devised to assess the recognition and expression of emotional cues in both facial and vocal modalities. The autistic subjects were relatively impaired in both the appreciation and production of emotional expressions. Although no one test provided a clear-cut separation of the groups at the individual level, composite scores did separate the groups quite well. It is suggested that this battery of tasks may have some value in family genetic studies of autism that need to identify subclinical deficits that might be aetiologically linked with autism.

Adult

Pathways from childhood to adult life.

Principles and concepts of development are reviewed in relation to life-span issues noting the need to consider: development in its social context; timing of experiences; intrinsic and experiential factors; continuities and discontinuities; parallels and differences between normal and abnormal development; heterotypic and homotypic continuities; key life transitions; risk and protective factors; indirect chain affects; mediating mechanisms; age as an index of maturational and experiential factors. Developmental findings from childhood to adult longitudinal studies are reviewed for possible mediating factors. These include: genetic mechanisms; the (non-genetic) biological substrate; shaping of the environment; cognitive and social skills; self-esteem and self-efficacy; habits, cognitive sets and coping styles; links between experiences.

Adolescent

Adult personality functioning assessment (APFA). An investigator-based standardised interview.

The development of an investigator-based standardised interview to assess patterns of specific and general social dysfunction is described. It covers six domains of functioning: work; love relationships; friendships; non-intimate social contacts; negotiations; and everyday coping. Inter-rater reliability was tested by three investigators rating 21 audiotaped interviews, and was shown to be high, with an intraclass correlation of 0.87 for the total score. The pattern of associations between specific and general social dysfunction was examined through determination of sensitivities and specificities and through LISREL modelling. The findings varied across social domains but it was concluded that the total APFA score provided a reasonable measure of general social dysfunction.

Adaptation, Psychological

Families of autistic and dysphasic children. I. Family life and interaction patterns.

Patterns of parent-child interaction and family functioning were systematically examined in well-matched groups of 15 autistic and 14 dysphasic children. The measures used included the Douglas 24-hour standard day analysis, the Brown and Rutter interview measure of positive interaction, the Ittleson scales (based on a four- to six-hour period of home observation, specially developed time-sampled measures of observed mother-child interaction at home), and the Eysenck Personality Inventory. The findings from all measures agreed in showing that family life and interaction patterns were closely similar in the two groups. The results were compared with those of previous investigations; we concluded that autism is most unlikely to be due to abnormal psychogenic influences in the family.

Activities of Daily Living

Separation experiences: a new look at an old topic.

Research findings on the effects of separation are reviewed. Children of working mothers develop as well as those whose mothers remain at home. The effects of day care for very young children depend very much on the quality of care provided. Admission to hospital is stressful for preschool children through separation from the family, lack of opportunity to form new attachments, a strange environment, and disturbed parent-child relationships on return home; recurrent hospital admissions may have long-term sequelae, especially in children under chronic stress. An institutional upbringing need not impair cognitive development, but multiple rotating caretakers are likely to interfere with social development. Broken homes are associated with psychiatric disorder only in so far as they reflect family discord and disharmony. Bereavement is most likely to lead to prolonged grief reactions in older children and adolescents. Forced separations of mother and infant in the neonatal period may damage parent-child relationships. Many mechanisms are involved in these different experiences, and in only a few is the separation itself the main stress.

Anxiety, Separation

Maternal deprivation, 1972-1978: new findings, new concepts, new approaches.

Research since 1972 in the field of "maternal deprivation" is critically reviewed. The results are used to reassess briefly the formulations proposed in 1972 and to discuss more fully the meaning and practical implications of fresh findings on new or recently revived topics. These include the development of social relationships and the process of bonding, critical periods of development, the links between childhood experiences and parenting behavior, influences on parenting, and the possible reasons why so many children do not succumb to deprivation or disadvantage.

Animals