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Published on: December 7, 2018
The Selective Social Attention task in children with autism spectrum disorder: Results from the Autism Biomarkers
Frederick Shic1,2,3, Erin C Barney1,3, Adam J Naples3
1Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Insights
The Selective Social Attention (SSA) task effectively identifies differences in social attention in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) aged 4-12. This eye-tracking method shows potential as a biomarker for ASD across a wide developmental range.
Area of Science:
- Neurodevelopmental Disorders
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- The Selective Social Attention (SSA) task traditionally assesses social attention in infants and toddlers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
- Extending SSA to older children with ASD is crucial for understanding developmental trajectories and potential biomarkers.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the applicability of the SSA task in preschool and school-aged children (4-12 years) with and without ASD.
- To determine if SSA can capture social attention differences and clinical variations within the autism spectrum in older children.
Main Methods:
- Participants: 23 children with ASD and 25 typically developing (TD) children, aged 4-12 years.
- Procedure: Children completed the SSA eye-tracking task and standardized clinical assessments.
- Analysis: Linear mixed models examined group and condition effects on visual attention (%Valid, %Face), with age and IQ as covariates. Correlations assessed relationships with clinical data.
Main Results:
- Children with ASD showed significantly less engagement with the overall scene (%Valid) and the actress' face (%Face) compared to TD children during socially engaging conditions.
- Within the ASD group, reduced face-gazing (%Face) correlated negatively with overall Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) scores and the Autistic Mannerism subscale.
Conclusions:
- The SSA task is a valid and extensible measure for assessing social attention in children with ASD aged 4-12 years.
- SSA findings in older children mirror those in younger populations, confirming its utility across a broad developmental span.
- The SSA task demonstrates potential as a sensitive biomarker for identifying autism spectrum disorder and its clinical heterogeneity.
Abstract:
The Selective Social Attention (SSA) task is a brief eye-tracking task involving experimental conditions varying along socio-communicative axes. Traditionally the SSA has been used to probe socially-specific attentional patterns in infants and toddlers who develop autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This current work extends these findings to preschool and school-age children. Children 4- to 12-years-old with ASD (N = 23) and a typically-developing comparison group (TD; N = 25) completed the SSA task as well as standardized clinical assessments. Linear mixed models examined group and condition effects on two outcome variables: percent of time spent looking at the scene relative to scene presentation time (%Valid), and percent of time looking at the face relative to time spent looking at the scene (%Face). Age and IQ were included as covariates. Outcome variables' relationships to clinical data were assessed via correlation analysis. The ASD group, compared to the TD group, looked less at the scene and focused less on the actress' face during the most socially-engaging experimental conditions. Additionally, within the ASD group, %Face negatively correlated with SRS total T-scores with a particularly strong negative correlation with the Autistic Mannerism subscale T-score. These results highlight the extensibility of the SSA to older children with ASD, including replication of between-group differences previously seen in infants and toddlers, as well as its ability to capture meaningful clinical variation within the autism spectrum across a wide developmental span inclusive of preschool and school-aged children. The properties suggest that the SSA may have broad potential as a biomarker for ASD.
