Characterizing difficulties with emotion regulation in toddlers with autism spectrum disorder |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Florida State University, Department of Psychology, Tallahassee, FL, USA;2. University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Pittsburgh, PA, USA;3. Florida State University College of Medicine, Department of Clinical Sciences, Tallahassee, FL, USA;1. Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK;2. Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, UK;1. School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Australia;2. Centre for the Advancement of Research on Emotion, School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australian, Australia;1. Department of Special Education, San Diego State University, USA;2. South County Special Education Local Plan, San Diego, USA;1. The Ohio State University, USA;2. Nationwide Children’s Hospital, USA;3. The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, USA;4. Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons in Canada, Canada |
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| Abstract: | BackgroundDifficulties with emotion regulation (ER) underlie emotional/behavioral challenges and co-occurring psychiatric symptoms in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), yet very little is known about the early development of emotion dysregulation. The present study aimed to identify differences in positive and negative emotional reactivity and regulation strategies in toddlers with and without ASD.MethodNine tasks from the Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery (Lab-TAB) were completed with 37 toddlers with and without ASD (22–28 months). Video-recordings of these tasks were coded by research assistants using a behavioral coding scheme tapping facial, bodily, and vocal affect and the frequency of ER strategies. Mixed model analyses were performed to examine the mean affect and total regulation strategies across each task and t-tests were conducted to assess the types of ER strategies utilized.ResultsToddlers with ASD showed significantly less positive affect and greater frustration compared to non-ASD toddlers; reactivity was comparable between the groups for fear. Both groups used ER strategies in a similar pattern across tasks, with the exception that toddlers with ASD more often engaged in distraction to regulate. Effects of age and developmental level are discussed.ConclusionsToddlers with ASD were robustly characterized by greater frustration and lower joy despite frequent and age appropriate attempts to regulate their emotions. This study provides preliminary evidence that observable indicators of emotion dysregulation are present by two years of age. Clinical implications and future research directions are discussed. |
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| Keywords: | Autism spectrum disorder ASD Toddlers Early childhood Emotion regulation Emotional reactivity |
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