Conceptualization of quality of life in autistic individuals

Placebo responses are frequently observed in research studies and clinical contexts, yet there is limited knowledge about the placebo effect among children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Here, we review the placebo effect in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Placebo responses are widely evident in ASD clinical trials and could partly operate via so‐called placebo‐by‐proxy, whereby caregivers or clinicians indirectly shape patient outcomes. Understanding the role of placebo effects in ASD may help discern genuine treatment effects from contextual factors in clinical trials. The much less studied nocebo effect, or negative placebo, might contribute to the experience of side effects in ASD treatments but empirical data is missing. Better knowledge about placebo and nocebo mechanisms may contribute to the development of more effective research designs, such as three‐armed designs that account for natural history, and improved treatments for ASD symptoms. At a clinical level, deeper knowledge about placebo and nocebo effects may optimize the delivery of care for individuals with ASD in the future.

Section: Placebo Effects In Children With Autism Spectrum Disordermentioning

confidence: 99%

Placebo effects in children with autism spectrum disorder

Curie

Oberlander

Jensen

2023

“…Nowadays, there is an increasing recognition of quality of life (QoL) beyond aspects of health. 1 This may result from the fact that human happiness can never be standardized. Individuals on the autism spectrum have endeavoured to facilitate their lives through training and by adjusting themselves to their environment, in order to adapt harmoniously to social life.…”

Section: My Autism and My Desired Quality Of Life Naoki Higashidamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nowadays, there is an increasing recognition of quality of life (QoL) beyond aspects of health 1 . This may result from the fact that human happiness can never be standardized.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

My autism and my desired quality of life

Higashida¹

2022

“…Kuper and Regier 5 suggested that the psychiatric classification and nosology should aim to bridge the gap between 'presumed etiologies based on symptomatology' and 'identifiable pathophysiologic etiologies' in the revision process of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5). In accordance with the paper by Werkhoven et al, 1 to describe and understand the human being itself, the categorical definitions of developmental disorders will require assistance from other approaches, including the phenomenological method.…”

mentioning

confidence: 92%

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The review undertaken by Werkhoven et al 1 on the diagnostic labels for developmental disorders is remarkable, because it discusses the meanings of these labels (including autism spectrum disorders [ASD] and attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder [ADHD]) in the contexts of science, therapeutics and pedagogy, society, and administration. The authors described the categorical definitions of developmental disorders in the context of several limitations such as poor sharing of scientific backgrounds, unclear indications for specific treatment options and educational programs, and their relationships to stigmatization in social contexts.Because of the excessive influence of the current operational diagnostic system, the categorical definitions of clinical disease entities have a serious limitation in that they are rooted in psychiatric symptomatology without neurobiological underpinnings.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

The categorical definitions of developmental disorders: Going beyond current models

Park

2022

The review undertaken by Werkhoven et al. 1 on the diagnostic labels for developmental disorders is remarkable, because it discusses the meanings of these labels (including autism spectrum disorders [ASD] and attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder [ADHD]) in the contexts of science, therapeutics and pedagogy, society, and administration. The authors described the categorical definitions of developmental disorders in the context of several limitations such as poor sharing of scientific backgrounds, unclear indications for specific treatment options and educational programs, and their relationships to stigmatization in social contexts.Because of the excessive influence of the current operational diagnostic system, the categorical definitions of clinical disease entities have a serious limitation in that they are rooted in psychiatric symptomatology without neurobiological underpinnings. In addition, in terms of the critical conceptual distinctions of the kinds-of-kinds (in the order of natural kind, discrete kind, fuzzy kind, practical kind, and dimension), the clustered properties, non-arbitrary cutoff points, discontinuity, category boundary, and category essence are all increased.Thus, the categorical definitions for developmental disorders (i.e. ASD, ADHD) can correspond to the fuzzy kind or discrete kind, but not the natural kind. Although the categorical definitions may be expected to share the essential neurobiological underpinnings for observable symptoms and signs from the viewpoint of the 'disease essentialism paradigm,' the manifestations of ASD and ADHD are phenotypically and clinically characterized by high levels of complexity and heterogeneity. 2 Ludwig Wittgenstein proposed the philosophical concepts of family resemblance and essence. 3 He argues that things which could be thought to be connected by one essential common feature may in fact be connected by a series of overlapping similarities, where no one feature is common to all of the things. Games, which Wittgenstein used as an example to explain the notion, have become the paradigmatic example of a group that is related by family resemblances.