Psychophysiological and Behavioral Responses to a Novel Intruder Threat Task for Children on the Autism Spectrum
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Testing Sensory and Multisensory Function in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Published on: April 22, 2015
Mikle South1, Katherine M Taylor2, Tiffani Newton2
1Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, USA. south@byu.edu.
Insights
Children with Asperger syndrome (AS) exhibit reduced psychophysiological reactivity to social threats. Increased social impairment correlates with lower skin conductance response (SCR), but movement, not diagnosis, predicts SCR.
Area of Science:
- Psychophysiology
- Neurodevelopmental Disorders
- Social Neuroscience
Background:
- Autism Spectrum Disorder (AS) is characterized by social interaction challenges.
- Understanding the psychophysiological responses to social threat in AS is crucial for targeted interventions.
- Previous research has not fully elucidated the interplay between emotional reactivity, social deficits, and movement in AS.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the psychophysiological reactivity to direct social threat in children with AS using a novel experimental paradigm.
- To examine the relationship between social symptom severity, behavioral movement, and skin conductance response (SCR) in children with AS.
- To identify potential confounds in psychophysiology research concerning AS.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the Intruder Threat Task, an ecologically relevant experimental paradigm, to elicit escalating social threat.
- Measured skin conductance response (SCR) as an index of psychophysiological reactivity.
- Assessed social symptom severity and behavioral movement in children with AS and a control group.
Main Results:
- Children with AS demonstrated significantly reduced SCR to social threat compared to controls across all experimental phases.
- In the AS group, greater social impairment was significantly associated with reduced SCR.
- Movement activity, rather than AS diagnosis, was a significant predictor of SCR.
Conclusions:
- Emotional reactivity to social threat is diminished in children with AS.
- Movement patterns may confound psychophysiological measures of social threat reactivity in AS research.
- Future research and clinical interventions for AS should consider the complex interaction between emotional processing, social behavior, and motor activity.
Abstract:
We measured skin conductance response (SCR) to escalating levels of a direct social threat from a novel, ecologically-relevant experimental paradigm, the Intruder Threat Task. We simultaneously evaluated the contribution of social symptom severity and behavioral movement. Children with AS group showed less psychophysiological reactivity to social threat than controls across all three phases of the experiment. In the AS group, greater social impairment was significantly associated with reduced SCR. However, movement activity predicted SCR while diagnosis did not. Research and treatment need to account for the complex interplay of emotional reactivity and social behavior in AS. Psychophysiology studies of AS should consider the impact of possible confounds such as movement.
