Social attention in anorexia nervosa and autism spectrum disorder: Role of social motivation.
Jess Kerr-Gaffney, Emily Jones, Luke Mason and 4 others
PMID 34845940WHAT IT FOUND
Adults with autism looked at faces less than controls, but those with anorexia nervosa did not.
Looking away from faces was not linked to low social motivation. For anorexia, social attention appears intact in dynamic scenes, challenging assumptions of shared autism-like deficits.
Key findings
01Participants with ASD looked at faces significantly less than their matched controls, while participants with AN did not differ from their controls.
02When compared directly using normative models, attention to faces was more atypical in ASD than in AN, though both groups showed some deviation from typical looking patterns.
03Self-reported social motivation difficulties did not correlate with attention to faces, bodies, or non-social areas in either the AN or ASD groups.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study used a single dynamic video clip, and the analysis focused on total looking time, which may obscure subtle temporal changes in attention, such as how quickly someone looks away. Participants with ASD were not screened for comorbid eating disorders, so there may have been diagnostic overlap between the groups. The AN group had no diagnosed ASD, but many individuals with AN have undiagnosed autistic traits, which could blur the distinction between the groups. The sample was restricted to individuals with average or above-average IQ, so results do not apply to those with intellectual disabilities. The differing sex ratios (AN mostly female, ASD mostly male) influenced the direct comparison between groups, as the difference disappeared when analyzing only females.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. Funding was provided by the Medical Research Council, the Maudsley Charity, and the Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Undertaking.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that social motivation deficits cause reduced face attention in anorexia nervosa. The study found no link between self-reported social motivation and eye-tracking measures in either group, and individuals with anorexia nervosa did not show reduced face attention compared to controls in this dynamic social task.