Attend Less, Fear More: Elevated Distress to Social Threat in Toddlers With Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Suzanne L Macari, Angelina Vernetti, Katarzyna Chawarska
PMID 33283976WHAT IT FOUND
The main distress result did not show one overall difference between groups.
Toddlers with ASD looked less at the stranger and used more varied regulation strategies; their distress was higher than in typical toddlers in stranger probe and lower in object and mask probes.
Key findings
01The main distress analysis did not find an overall group difference, but condition-specific comparisons showed higher distress in the ASD group than the TD group and lower distress in the ASD group during Object and Masks probes.
02Toddlers with ASD looked less at the stranger than TD toddlers, but their attention to objects and masks was comparable.
03In the stranger probe, toddlers with ASD used a wider variety of regulation strategies than TD toddlers, but across conditions a smaller share of their strategies were social.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study had no developmentally delayed control group, so it is unclear whether the findings are specific to ASD or also occur in other developmental delays. All testing was done in a standardized lab setting with a parent instructed to stay neutral, so it may not show how toddlers react at home, daycare, or preschool. The sample was not large enough or balanced enough to examine sex differences. The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that attention to threat or distress causes later anxiety or behavior problems. Some trials were excluded because the child became distressed, because of technical problems, or because a parent interfered, and the TD group contributed fewer trials than the ASD group.
Declared interests
The authors report no conflict of interest. The paper is listed as supported by NIH extramural research.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that unfamiliar people are always more distressing for toddlers with ASD. The main distress result did not show one overall difference between groups, and the higher distress finding came from specific comparisons. The study also did not test whether any therapy reduces this distress.