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IMPORTANCE The origins and development of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) remain unresolved. No individual-level study has provided estimates of additive genetic, maternal, and environmental effects in ASD across several countries. OBJECTIVE To estimate the additive genetic, maternal, and environmental effects in ASD.

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Maternal exposure to folic acid and multivitamin supplements before and during pregnancy is associated with a reduced risk of ASD in the offspring compared with the offspring of mothers without such exposure.

To extend the literature the present study aims to examine the interrelationships between resilience (defined by a lack of posttraumatic stress disorder following trauma) and posttraumatic growth. Two studies were conducted of Israeli: (a) adolescents exposed to terror (N = 2908), and (b) citizens and army personnel following the second Lebanon War (N = 588). Across studies the results showed that high levels of resilience were associated with the lowest posttraumatic growth scores. The results imply that although growth and resilience are both salutogenic constructs they are inversely related. The theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

The seven-item CES-D-SF has acceptable psychometric properties, is associated with exposures documented to be associated with an increased likelihood of depression, and may be used to screen for suspected major depressive disorder in US community studies.

The current study implements psychometric network analysis within the framework of confirmatory (structural equation) modeling. Utility is demonstrated by three applications on independent data sets. The first application uses WAIS data and shows that the same kind of fit statistics can be produced for network models as for traditional confirmatory factor models. This can assist deciding between factor analytical and network theories of intelligence, e.g. g theory versus mutualism theory. The second application uses the 'Holzinger and Swineford data' and illustrates how to cross-validate a network. The third application concerns a multigroup analysis on scores on the Brief Test of Adult Cognition by Telephone (BCATC). It exemplifies how to test if network parameters have the same values across groups. Of theoretical interest is that in all applications psychometric network models outperformed previously established (g) factor models. Simulations showed that this was unlikely due to overparameterization. Thus the overall results were more consistent with mutualism theory than with mainstream g theory. The presence of common (e.g. genetic) influences is not excluded, however.

To address gaps in the literature, this study examined the components of posttraumatic growth, and the relationship between growth and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Participants were from a pooled sample of 4,054 Israeli adolescents exposed to terror of whom 210 (5.5%) met criteria for PTSD. Measures included the Child Post-Traumatic Stress Reaction Index and Posttraumatic Growth Inventory. Principal components analysis showed two correlated components of outward and intrapersonal growth. Regression modeling showed that the relationship between the growth and PTSD measures was linear and curvilinear (inverted-U). These results replicated accounting for heterogeneity in PTSD, exposure and subsamples. Collectively, the results imply that posttraumatic growth in adolescence is characterized by two robust components, and is greatest at moderate posttraumatic stress levels.