Differences in anticipatory versus reactive stress to social evaluative threat in adults versus adolescents with autism.
Julie Lounds Taylor, Rachael A Muscatello, Blythe A Corbett
PMID 30145834WHAT IT FOUND
Adults with autism showed cortisol increases before a social stress task, adolescents during it.
Overall stress response was similar, so timing differed more than amount.
Key findings
01Adults with ASD showed a cortisol increase before the stress task, while adolescents did not.
02Adolescents with ASD showed a cortisol rise during the stress task, while adults showed little additional rise during it.
03Overall responder rates were similar, but adults were more likely to be anticipatory responders and adolescents were marginally more likely to be reactive responders.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The sample was small, with 24 adolescents and 17 adults. The study compared separate age groups rather than following the same people over time, so it cannot show that stress response changes with development. There was no age- and gender-matched neurotypical comparison group. Cortisol was assayed in two different labs, although home afternoon baseline samples did not differ between groups. Many participants were taking medications, though none were taking medications known to interfere with the HPA axis stress response. The sample had very few females, with zero adolescents and four adults. Self-reported perceived stress during the task was not collected. The study did not assess other factors that could affect cortisol, such as chronic stress or cognitive appraisal.
Declared interests
The supplied text does not report author conflicts of interest. Publication types indicate NIH extramural research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that adults with autism have a stronger overall stress response than adolescents. The overall responder rates were similar, and the difference was in timing. The study compared different people at different ages, so it does not show change within the same person over time.