sensory processing

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that can lead to difficulties in various aspects of adult participation.

This present study aimed to investigate executive function, sensory processing, and participation in meaningful activities among adults with and without ADHD. Additionally, the study explored the relationships between executive function, sensory processing, and participation in meaningful activities in adults with ADHD.

In this cross-sectional study, 70 adults aged 18 to 40 with ADHD and 68 healthy peers were recruited from various clinics and centers across Tehran. Executive function and sensory processing were assessed using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Adult version (BRIEF-A) and the Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile Questionnaire (AASP), respectively. Participation in meaningful activities was evaluated using the engagement in meaningful activity survey (EMAS). Independent samples t -tests were used to compare adults with ADHD to healthy adults. Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients were utilized to explore correlations. A stepwise linear regression model was applied to assess the predictive effects of various variables.

Significant differences were observed in executive function, sensory processing, and participation in meaningful activities between adults with and without ADHD. Significant correlations were found between participation scores and all subscales of executive function and sensory processing.

The findings indicate that individuals with ADHD exhibit significant differences in executive function, sensory processing, and participation in meaningful activities compared to their non-ADHD peers. Executive function and sensory processing in adults with ADHD appear to impact their participation in meaningful activities. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) symptoms lead to functional impairments that predict limitations, unemployment and withdrawal from social or leisure activities and affect the health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) and self-management are important factors affecting HRQOL in people with MS.

We decided to determine the role of SPS and self-management in predicting HRQOL in MS patients.

This cross-sectional-analytical study was conducted on 320 relapsing-remitting MS patients registered in the nationwide MS registry of Iran (NMSRI), Guilan Province, from March 2020 to March 2021. The SPS questionnaire (SPSQ), MS self-management scale-revised (MSSM-R) and 36-item short-form survey (SF-36) were used to collect data. 

The findings showed that quality of life in people with MS has a positive significant relationship with SPS (r=0.14) and self-management (r=0.22) (P<0.05). The results of the multiple regression model also showed that the MSSM-R and SPSQ explained a total of 12% of the variance of the SF-36.

Overall, SPS and self-management are factors affecting the quality of life of MS patients.

Military service is a significant transitional period often characterized by unique psychological and environmental challenges. This study investigated the relationships between suicidal ideation, mindfulness, and sensory processing patterns in soldiers.

This cross-sectional study was conducted among 200 soldiers, assessing their sensory processing patterns, mindfulness, and suicidal ideation using standardized questionnaires and scales. Regression analysis was performed to identify predictors of suicidal ideation.

Sensory sensitivity (B=-0.068, p=0.024) and the non-judging facet of mindfulness (B=0.069, p=0.040) significantly predicted suicidal ideation in soldiers. Higher sensory sensitivity was linked to lower levels of suicidal ideation, while non-judging was associated with increased ideation. Other sensory processing patterns and aspects of mindfulness did not significantly predict suicidal ideation. The regression model explained a modest proportion of the variance in suicidal ideation (R²=0.071).

Sensory sensitivity and the non-judging facet of mindfulness predict suicidal ideation among soldiers.

Despite significant advancements in the care of premature infants, it must be acknowledged that premature infants, especially low birth weight infants, are prone to problems such as sensory, cognitive, neuro-motor, visual, and hearing problems. Their objective future difficulties are behavioral abnormalities, socio-emotional difficulties, and impaired school performance.
This research aimed to predict behavioral problems based on attachment styles and sensory processing in children with a history of prematurity at birth. The research method was a descriptive cross-sectional study. The study population consisted of all 5 to 12-year-old children in Tehran in the year 2022; among them, 154 children aged 5 to 12 years old with a history of prematurity at birth were selected by the convenience sampling methods. Data were collected using the Sensory profile2-child, Kinship Center Attachment Questionnaire, and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using the Pearson correlation coefficient and regression analysis. The findings demonstrated a significant negative correlation between adaptive development and children's behavioral problems (r=-0.65, p<0.05). Moreover, a significant positive relationship was found between attachment styles and emotional reactivity (r=0.64, p<0.05), negative behaviors, and avoidance of attachment figure support (r=0.67, p<0.05), as well as sensory processing and behavioral problems in children with a history of prematurity at birth (r=0.67, p<0.05). Additionally, motor processing (β=0.22, p<0.05), emotional reaction (β=0.17, p<0.05), and avoidance of attachment figure support (β=0.17, p<0.29) were capable of predicting behavioral problems in children with a history of prematurity at birth.
It was concluded that as the levels of attachment styles, emotional reactions, negative behaviors, and avoidance of attachment increase in children with a history of prematurity, their behavioral problems increase as well. Conversely, increased positive adaptive development is associated with decreased behavioral problems.

 The rising prevalence of mental and psychological issues among immigrants has garnered increased attention due to the significant growth in immigrant populations in recent years. In this context, exploring the connection between psychological health, cognitive flexibility, brain-behavioral systems, and sensory processing in Iranian immigrants in Canada is becoming an essential research goal.

 The aim of this study was to explore the relationships between psychological health, cognitive flexibility, brain-behavioral systems, and sensory processing among Iranian immigrants in Canada.

 A cross-sectional study design was used, gathering data from 400 Iranian students (198 males and 202 females) enrolled at universities in Canada and Iran. We collected participants' demographic details and assessed their psychological health, cognitive flexibility, brain-behavioral systems, and sensory processing through standardized instruments. Psychological health was evaluated using the Beck Anxiety Inventory, cognitive flexibility was measured with the Dennis and Vander Wall Cognitive Flexibility Questionnaire, and sensory processing was appraised via the adolescent/adult sensory profile. The Carver and White behavioral inhibition system (BIS)/behavioral activation system (BAS) scales were utilized to measure brain-behavioral systems. Statistical analyses, including correlation analysis and multivariate regression, were conducted to investigate the relationships among these variables.

 The correlation analysis revealed significant positive associations between anxiety and low registration (r = 0.283, P < 0.001), sensory sensitivity (r = 0.442, P < 0.001), and sensory avoiding (r = 0.307, P < 0.001) in immigrant students. Anxiety also showed nonsignificant negative correlations with the behavioral activation system-drive (r = -0.042, P = 0.551) and behavioral activation system-reward responsiveness (r = -0.090, P = 0.203). The multivariate regression analysis found that low registration (B = 0.177, P = 0.036), sensory sensitivity (B = 0.336, P < 0.001), and cognitive flexibility (B = 0.119, P = 0.025) significantly predicted anxiety levels in immigrant students. An adjusted R-squared value of 0.191 indicated that these variables together explained 19.1% of the variance in anxiety levels.

 This study underscores the significant links between sensory processing patterns, cognitive flexibility, brain-behavioral systems, and anxiety among Iranian immigrant students. These findings highlight the need for interventions focusing on teaching cognitive skills strategies and increasing awareness of sensory needs to help reduce anxiety levels in this population.

Impairment in the way of sensory information by the central nervous system can cause functional problems in all areas of an adolescent’s activities, including education, self-care, social participation, and leisure. Therefore, in the presence of problems in such activities, it is necessary to evaluate and screen for sensory processing. In the present study, the sensory processing assessment tools that cover the adolescent age group were investigated.

In this review, PubMed, Science Direct, Google, OTseeker, and Google Scholar databases were searched, and articles published between 2000 and 2022 on sensory processing assessment tools in adolescents and their psychometrics were selected. Keywords used included sensory integration dysfunction (SID), sensory processing disorder (SPD), adolescence, adolescent, assessment, measurement, reliability, validity, psychometry, environment, scale, and instrument.

The assessment tools identified to evaluate sensory processing in the adolescent age group include the “adolescent/adult sensory profile” (AASP), “Glasgow sensory questionnaire” (GSQ), “sensory processing measure (SPM)”, “sensory response in autism spectrum” (SR-AS) questionnaire, “sensory processing scale” (SPS), and “SPM-second edition” (SPM-2).

The environment was considered as a factor that needs to be evaluated only in the second version of the SPM among the selected tools. The results of this review also showed that the only tool available in Persian in this field is the AASP, which does not seem to be a suitable tool for use in adolescence because the population studied in the psychometric evaluation of the Persian version was elderly people with dementia. Therefore, it seems necessary to prepare the Persian version and psychometric evaluation of an appropriate assessment tool for evaluating the sensory processing of Iranian adolescents.

Schizophrenia is a debilitating and complex mental health disorder characterized by symptoms, such as delusions, hallucinations, and cognitive impairments. A high comorbidity rate is observed between substance abuse, schizophrenia and impulsivity. Given the higher rate of suicide among individuals with schizophrenia, this research aims to investigate the correlation between three factors, sensory processing, substance abuse and impulsivity, concerning suicide in individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Research was conducted on PubMed, Google Scholar and Web of Science using the keywords “schizophrenia,” “substance use disorder (SUD),” “sensory processing,” “suicide” and “impulsivity.” Sixteen articles were selected as the most recent and relevant studies for reporting.

The reviewed studies demonstrated a high prevalence of suicide in patients with schizophrenia, particularly during the early stages of the illness. Impulsivity plays a contributing role in the elevated rates of suicide and substance abuse, with substance abuse directly influencing the incidence of suicide. Moreover, sensory processing difficulties can lead to self-harm and suicide. Therefore, the presence of these three factors in patients can increase the risk of suicide.

Studies have addressed these risk factors to a considerable extent, less attention has been given to sensory processing, impulsivity, and substance abuse, which are significant factors in self-harm and suicide, as well as their predictive value for suicide. Further studies in this area are recommended.

According to DSM-5, sensory processing problems are among diagnostic criteria in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Various studies have shown that games, as the main occupation of children, can be helpful in performing sensory interventions. Solving sensory problems isoneof themostcommondemandsof families with children withASD. Children’s families play a key role in the implementation of occupational therapeutic interventions.

This randomized clinical trial investigated the effectiveness of sensory play activities performed by parents at home on the sensory patterns of children with ASD.

Fifty-one children with ASD, aged 3 to 6 years, were divided into the intervention and control groups. All participants attended 16 sessions of in-person individualized sensory integration therapy (SIT) in a clinic for 8 weeks. In the intervention group, children received 8 sessions of a sensory play activity intervention performed by parents at home. Data collection instruments included the Gilliam Autism Rating Scale-2 and the sensory profile 2. Parametric (independent and paired t-test) and non-parametric (Mann-Whitney and Wilcoxon tests) were used for statistical analysis to compare between-group and within-group mean differences.

The resultsshowedthat althoughall four sensory processing patterns improved significantly in both groups (P< 0.05) (i.e., the within-group effect), children in the intervention group showed significant improvements in three sensory patterns, including sensory avoiding, sensory sensitivity, and sensory registration (P< 0.01). There was no significant difference in the mean score of the sensory seeking pattern between the 2 groups (P > 0.05).

Sensory integration therapy improved dysfunctional sensory processing patterns in ASD children, an effect that was enhanced by the simultaneous implementation of sensory play interventions.

Individuals should have good sensory processing ability to function appropriately and participate in daily activities. This investigation aimed to evaluate the sensory processing characteristics of children aged under 14 years.

This is a descriptive cross-sectional study. The study population comprised all children aged >14 years referred to child’s developmental centers and elementary and middle schools in Tehran City, Iran. After considering the inclusion criteria, 1272 children were selected using multistage cluster sampling. The research tool was sensory profile-2, completed by children’s caregivers and teachers. Their sensory processing characteristics were measured according to the cut-off scores of the separate questionnaires of Sensory profile-2 in the section, school, and quadrant factors. 

The research samples scored just like the majority of others on most sensory processing areas, with only two quadrants, one sensory section, and one school factor score indicating “less than others” or “more than others.”

According to the findings, a high sensory sensitivity leads to intolerance of children in schools. Also, the low level of sensory seeking in toddlers is associated with less than other scores in movement items.

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) face some challenges with performing self-care. Many performance components, including sensory and cognitive functions, are effective in performing self-care.

This study aimed to compare the role of sensory processing and executive functions in performing self-care among preschool children with ASD.

In this cross-sectional study, 70 children with ASD aged 3-6 years were selected and investigated by adopting convenience sampling. The instruments included the Short Sensory Profile-2 (SSP-2), Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF), and Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI). The data were analyzed using Pearson correlation and linear regression tests.

The results of the correlation revealed that executive functions (P≤0.01) and sensory processing (P ≤ 0.005) had a small yet significant inverse relationship with performing self-care activities. The results of stepwise linear regression showed that executive functions and sensory processing were equally capable of predicting self-care activities.

It was recommended that therapists should pay enough attention to both executive functions and sensory processing in order to solve the self-care problems of preschool children with ASD. Due to the low correlation between variables, it was also suggested that a multifactorial approach to self-care activities should be employed as well as the role of other factors along with sensory processing and executive function should be considered.

Sensory processing patterns can be related to children's preferences for various activities. Still, our understanding of how different sensory processing patterns are related to children's participation in leisure activities is fairly limited. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the association between sensory processing patterns and children's participation in leisure activities.

In this systematic review, the PRISMA (The Preferred Reporting Items For Systematic Reviews And Meta-Analyses) Guidelines were followed. We searched PubMed, Google Scholar, Springer, ProQuest, Scopus, Cochrane Library, Medline, OT Seeker, SID, and Healio databases using the following keywords: “Participation”, “leisure”, “play”, “sensory processing”, “sensory integration”, “sensorimotor”, “sensory”, and “children”. A total of 5040 articles were found, of which 5027 were eliminated after the review, and finally, 13 articles were included in the study based on the inclusion criteria; 6 of them entered the meta-analysis process. The meta-analysis was performed using CMA software. 

The meta-analysis of 6 studies illustrated a significant correlation between the energy level and desire to participate in leisure activities, the auditory-visual sensitivity and willingness to participate in leisure activities, the sensory processing patterns and the intensity of involvement in leisure activities, the general sensory processing and desire to participate in leisure activities, the sensory processing patterns and desire to participate in informal activities, the olfactory sensitivity and desire to participate in leisure activities, the auditory filtering and desire to participate in leisure activities, the sensory processing patterns and enjoyment of participation in leisure activities, and finally sensory processing patterns and desire to participate in recreational activities. 

The evidence in articles on sensory processing patterns and participation in play and leisure activities is inadequate. The only conclusion drawn from all patterns of sensory processing is the significant relationship between these patterns and the preference to participate in recreational activities (which is just one of the several leisure activities).

Keen vision is one of the most important qualities required of athletes. It enables players to perform sports-related drills and apply decision-making skills. To accurately measure the visual ability of athletes, it is important to first identify the variety of visual skills involved in the particular sport. The objectives of this novel review are to identify the most important visual skills required for rugby, and to create a reference point for further studies to include visual skills essential to rugby players.

We conducted an electronic search with various combinations of relevant keywords using the following databases: Sport Discuss, Ovid’s Evidence-Based Medicine Reviews, PubMed/MEDLINE, Current Contents, Science Direct, the National Research Council’s Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Google Scholar, and international electronic catalogues to assess the scientific literature related to the visual skills required for rugby. Only the records published in English were included. We extracted data on the relationship between vision and match performance, the defined problem or purpose of the study, and the inclusion of theoretical definitions of tactical behaviors.

Our search yielded 80 records, 51 of which fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The most important visual skills in rugby are classified based on whether they meet the requirements for visual hardware or visual software skills. Visual hardware skills include visual acuity, depth perception, fusion flexibility, and contrast sensitivity; visual software skills include eye tracking, hand-eye coordination, eye focusing, peripheral vision, speed and span of recognition, visual response time, and visual memory.

Rugby players must use both visual hardware and software skills to reliably observe their teammates’ positions, understand their opponents’ actions and tactics, handle the ball, analyze the immediate circumstances, and anticipate what will occur. Further studies are needed to verify the significance of each visual skill in actual competition to determine a relationship between vision and the results of a championship.

The estimated prevalence of mental health disorders in children and adolescents is between 10% and 20%. Furthermore, a quarter of very premature infants exhibit socioemotional delays in infancy and childhood. The objective of this study was to determine the validity and reliability of Greenspan social‑emotional growth chart (GSEGC) in Persian children aged 1–42 months.

After translation procedures, the face validity, content validity, construct validity, test–retest reliability, and internal consistency of the GSEGC questionnaire were evaluated. The quality of translating items was obtained using the suggestions of the research group. The face validity of the GSEGC was performed by interviewing with 10 mothers in the target group. To evaluate content validity quantitatively, content validity ratio (CVR) and content validity index (CVI) were used after reviewing the face and content validity and pilot study, 264 parents of children aged 1–42 months completed the GSEGC questionnaire to assess the construct validity and internal consistency. In order to determine the test‑retest reliability, after 2 weeks, 18 parents completed the questionnaire again.

Eleven questions were changed according to the interviews (questions 1–6, 9–11, and 15–16). The lowest CVR was related to items 30 and 20 (0.636), and other items had an acceptable CVR. The lowest CVI value was related to item 1 of clarity and simplicity (0.818), and other items had an acceptable CVI. Intra‑class correlation coefficient was 0.988 for all items of questionnaire. Furthermore, Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.952 for all items. In factor analysis, two factors were extracted from the items in questionnaire.

The Persian version of GSEGC questionnaire has acceptable face, content and, constructs validity, test‑retest reliability and high internal consistency in the target population. Therefore, the Persian version of the GSEGC can be used as a tool to assess 1–42 months sensory processing and socio‑emotional development.