Smiling synchronization predicts interaction enjoyment in peer dyads of autistic and neurotypical youth.
Kathryn A McNaughton, Alexandra Moss, Heather A Yarger and 1 others
PMID 38497277WHAT IT FOUND
Autistic-neurotypical pairs synchronized smiles less than neurotypical pairs.
This lower synchrony predicted less enjoyment and less desire to interact again. However, autistic-autistic pairs showed no significant difference in synchrony or enjoyment compared to other groups, suggesting shared neurotype may buffer interaction quality.
Key findings
01Smiling synchronization was significantly lower in autistic-neurotypical dyads compared to neurotypical-neurotypical dyads during the video-watching task.
02Higher smiling synchronization predicted greater desire to interact with the partner again and higher enjoyment of the video task.
03Autistic-neurotypical dyads reported significantly lower desire to interact again and lower video task enjoyment than both neurotypical-neurotypical and autistic-autistic dyads.
STILL TO COME
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What it does not show
The sample of autistic-autistic dyads was very small (7 dyads), making comparisons for this group preliminary. Data collection was cut short by the pandemic, leading to unequal group sizes. The study is correlational; it cannot determine if low synchrony causes low enjoyment or if low enjoyment causes low synchrony. Smiling synchronization in the free conversation task could not be analyzed due to high data loss and low smiling rates. The video-watching task design made it difficult to separate synchronization to the video stimulus from synchronization to the partner.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest. The study was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that autistic youth have a general deficit in social motivation or enjoyment. The study found that autistic-autistic dyads reported similar desire to interact again and enjoyment as neurotypical-neurotypical dyads. The reduced enjoyment was specific to mixed-neurotype interactions.