A Screening Tool to Measure Eye Contact Avoidance in Boys with Fragile X Syndrome.
Scott S Hall, Kaitlin M Venema
PMID 28516425WHAT IT FOUND
Boys with fragile X avoided eye contact more with unfamiliar people than familiar people on a parent-report scale.
Lower communication ability and comorbid ASD were associated with higher avoidance scores.
Key findings
01The ECAS total score had acceptable to excellent internal consistency, with a total Cronbach's alpha of .92.
02Boys scored significantly higher on eye contact avoidance with unfamiliar people than with friends/family or the informant.
03Boys with a comorbid ASD diagnosis had higher ECAS scores than boys without ASD, after communication ability was controlled.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The sample came from an online survey advertised through a fragile X foundation, so it may overrepresent families with higher socioeconomic status. ASD diagnosis was parent-reported and not verified, so the ASD-related score differences should be read cautiously. The study included only boys aged 8 to 16 years with FXS, not girls or children with social phobia. The measure was tested with one parent-report administration, so stability over time and agreement across different raters are unknown. Convergent validity was checked in a subsample of 48 participants, not in all 148 boys. The study evaluates a screening measure, not an intervention, so it cannot show that any treatment reduces eye contact avoidance.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat the ECAS as a diagnostic test or proof that an intervention works. It was developed only in 148 boys with fragile X syndrome using parent report, so it describes reported eye contact avoidance but does not establish the cause or show that therapy changes it.