Valence and Intensity of Emotional Expression in Autistic and Non-Autistic Toddlers.
Jessie B Northrup, Carla A Mazefsky, Taylor N Day
PMID 38315319WHAT IT FOUND
Autistic toddlers spent more time with neutral facial expressions and less time showing positive affect than non-autistic peers.
Differences in the intensity of their emotional expressions were small. This suggests the main difference is how often emotions are shown, not how strongly they are shown.
Key findings
01Autistic toddlers spent significantly more time in neutral facial expressions than non-autistic toddlers during joy and unease tasks.
02Autistic toddlers displayed less positive affect overall compared to non-autistic children, regardless of the type of task.
03Differences in the peak intensity of positive and negative expressions between groups did not reach statistical significance.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The sample size was small (37 children), which may have limited the ability to detect smaller differences in emotional intensity. The groups differed in age, sex, and developmental level, which complicates direct comparisons. The tasks were designed for neurotypical children and may not have been equally effective at eliciting emotions in autistic children. The examiner was not blind to diagnosis, which could introduce bias in how the tasks were administered or interpreted. Inter-rater reliability for coding facial affect was only moderate (kappa = 0.69).
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that autistic toddlers experience fewer emotions than their peers. The study measured facial expression, which is only one way to communicate emotion. The lack of difference in emotional intensity suggests that when emotions are expressed, they are often similar in strength, but the frequency of expression differs.