A meta-analytic review of gaze cueing across the autism trait continuum

Social attention is fundamental to social interaction and is experimentally indexed by the gaze-cueing effect (GCE) derived from the gaze-cueing task. Although atypical social attention is often considered a core feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), empirical findings regarding the GCE in ASD remain heterogeneous. This inconsistency highlights the need to investigate social attention across the broader autism trait continuum (autism-like traits [ALT]) in the general population to clarify these mechanisms. This meta-analysis synthesized 28 correlational studies (77 effect sizes) and eight group-comparison studies (21 effect sizes) to resolve these inconsistencies. A three-level model integrated the effect sizes, with moderation analyses testing the influence of sample characteristics (proportion of males, sample size), ALT measure type, and experimental parameters (face type, expression, SOA, task type). Results revealed a significant, albeit small, negative correlation: higher ALT levels predicted reduced GCE. Conversely, group comparisons (high ALT vs. low ALT) yielded nonsignificant results. These findings align with the continuum hypothesis, suggesting a gradient relationship rather than a distinct subgroup effect, although statistical power in group comparisons should also be considered. Moderation analyses indicated that the negative association intensified in samples with a higher male proportion but weaker in those with larger sample sizes; no other moderators were significant. Together, these findings indicate that the link between autistic traits and social attention is subtle, continuous, and moderated by sample characteristics, underscoring the necessity for future research using more ecologically valid paradigms to capture the dynamic nature of social processing.