Electrodermal Variability and Symptom Severity in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Rachel M Fenning, Jason K Baker, Brian R Baucom and 3 others
PMID 28120264WHAT IT FOUND
Children with higher autism symptom severity showed more frequent nonspecific skin conductance responses and greater variability in skin conductance across tasks.
The finding is an association, not proof that arousal causes symptoms.
Key findings
01Greater EDA variability and more nonspecific skin conductance responses were significantly linked to higher levels of ASD symptoms.
02The association was reliable during goal-oriented problem-solving tasks; associations during compliance tasks and free play were in the same direction but less consistently significant.
03Child IQ did not significantly moderate the association between EDA and ASD symptoms.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The sample was 34 children, and one child was excluded from primary analyses because no ADOS-2 or IQ score was obtained. The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot show whether arousal patterns contribute to ASD symptoms or result from them. The paper does not report a neurotypical comparison group. Task order was fixed, so order effects could not be assessed. Movement data were not controlled because movement scores were not significantly associated with ADOS-2 scores, but the study could not rule out effects of specific movement types. Eight percent of EDA data were missing overall.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflict of interest. No funding source is reported in the supplied text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat EDA variability as a clinical marker of autism severity. The study was cross-sectional, used a small laboratory sample, and did not test whether EDA predicts functional outcomes or responds to therapy.