Several lines of research suggest that autism is a neurological phenomenon, but the precise associations between neurological activity and the key diagnostic symptoms of autism are yet to be completely clarified. This study examined EEG connectivity and Sensory Features (SF) in a sample of young autistic males by examining bi-directional neural connectivity between separate brain regions as the key potential correlate of SF. Forty male autistic participants aged between 6 and 17 years, with an IQ of at least 70, underwent EEG measurements of their Frontal, Occipital and Temporal region responses to low-, medium-, and high-intensity audiovisual stimulus conditions. EEG connectivity data were analysed via Granger Causality. SF was measured via parent responses about their sons on the Child Sensory Profile (2^nd ed.) (CSP-2). There were significant (p < .05) correlations between right hemisphere Frontal and Temporal connectivity and CSP-2 dominant scores, largely due to lower Temporal-to-Frontal than Frontal-to-Temporal connectivity. There were no significant correlations between general CSP-2 scores and EEG connectivity data collected during audiovisual stimuli. These results confirm and extend previous findings by adding bi-directional connectivity as an index of brain activity to other studies that used only uni-directional connectivity data when measuring SF. Although there may be a discrepancy between the kinds of information collected via instruments such as the CSP-2 and actual brain electrical connectivity across major regions, these results hold implications for the use of brain-training interventions with autistic boys.

Background: Autistic girls’ change in salivary cortisol concentrations from morning to afternoon were compared with their parents’ own anxiety states as potential correlates of the autistic girls’ self-ratings of their anxiety and those given by their parents about their daughters’ anxiety.

Methods: Thirty-three autistic girls (6 yr to 10 yr, M = 8.21 yr, SD = 1.29 yr) and 19 autistic adolescent females (11 yr to 15 yr, M = 12.74 yr, SD = 1.52 yr) completed anxiety inventories about themselves and provided saliva samples in the morning and afternoon. Their mothers also rated their daughters’ anxiety and their own anxiety.

Results: There were no significant differences between mothers’ and daughters’ ratings of the latter’s GAD. The autistic girls’ self-ratings of their anxiety were more strongly influenced by their mothers’ anxiety in the younger girls, but more responsive to their own chronic stress state (i.e., cortisol) in the adolescent girls.

Conclusions: Mothers’ evaluations of their autistic daughters’ anxiety appear to be strongly influenced by their own anxiety. There was also some indication that autistic girls may disguise their anxiety.

Travel restrictions, pandemics, economic downturn, and increasing costs in organizing workshops all impact on face-to-face training of undergraduates planning to undertake research. The inability to obtain basic, first-hand information regarding research in practice causes undue stress for students and leads to unrealistic expectations regarding research projects. Here, we describe how a student initiated online workshop, co-designed by a group of undergraduate leaders in conjunction with a panel of international academic researchers, and enabled the delivery of an introductory workshop on research training to meet student needs. Post-workshop, over 80%–95% of the participants rated their understanding of different aspects of research in practice as either being good or excellent. The design of this workshop provides an innovative template, in particular for resource-restricted countries, on how student-initiated workshops with multi-institutional academic collaboration could enhance training in research practice.

Background: Individual Burden of Illness for Depression (IBI-D) represents a method for assessing the degree to which depressive symptomatology reduces functioning. Although the IBI-D has been shown to provide more information than measures of depressive symptomatology alone, previous studies have relied upon participant self-reports, and have not included an objective measure of physiological functioning. Such an index might add to the validity and informational value of IBI-D data.

Methods: Responses to scales measuring depressive symptoms, functional impairment due to mental and physical health, and saliva samples were collected from 111 community volunteers from rural Australia. Saliva was assayed for cortisol and C-Reactive Protein concentrations, and the ratio of these was used as an indicator of the balance between the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal axis and the inflammatory response from the immune system.

Results: Principal Components Analysis (PCA) produced two- and three-factor solutions from the psychological and biological data, and were used to form weighted models of two IBI-D equations. Stepwise regression analysis indicated that the addition of the biological index to the second IBI-D made a significant extra contribution to variance in depression score.

Limitations: No longitudinal data were collected, participants were from a single geo-cultural region, and were self-selecting. Clinician interviews might augment participant self-reports.

Conclusions: Valid assessment of the self-reported symptoms of depression provides one aspect of diagnostic information, but the addition of biological information can further inform clinicians and researchers about the effect that these symptoms have upon individual patient functioning.

Housing is a significant determinant of health and is widely accepted as a key solution to address some of the health disparities that exist among the homeless. It is estimated that 150 million people worldwide are homeless, and approximately 1.8 billion lack adequate housing. However, understanding of how housing has a positive impact on the health of the homeless remains unclear and underdeveloped. This systematic review investigates intervention studies that report on the physical and mental health effects of housing homeless persons. A search of PubMed, PsycINFO, EBSCOHost-Academic Search Complete and the Cochrane Library was conducted for peer-reviewed articles published in English from 1999 to 2020 that had a combination of at least one housing intervention and health outcome, with a homeless sample. Three previous reviews and 24 studies were included for analysis. Most of the studies (n = 20) encompassed permanent supportive housing interventions that emphasised placing homeless people with mental illness directly into affordable housing with access to support services. The primary health outcomes reported were general physical and mental health, well-being, and quality of life. Despite inconsistent findings and significant issues identified in the reviewed literature, housing (in the short term) improves some aspects of health in homeless populations with human immunodeficiency virus, anxiety and depression.