Recent Insights into Fear and Joy Responses in Toddlers with Autism
In a recent encounter, a concerned parent expressed worries about their child with autism displaying limited signs of fear or danger awareness. This particular challenge raises questions about how parents can impart a sense of fear or danger to a child who struggles to grasp such concepts.
A new study has shed light on this issue, revealing that toddlers with autism tend to exhibit less fear in the face of frightening stimuli compared to their typically developing peers or those with developmental delay. The implications of this diminished fear response could provide an explanation for the risky behaviors often observed in toddlers with autism, such as running into traffic or bodies of water. Presented at the 2018 International Society for Autism Research annual meeting in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, these unpublished findings have sparked important discussions within the scientific community.
Lead researcher Katarzyna Chawarska, director of the Yale Toddler Developmental Disabilities Clinic, emphasizes the critical safety implications of these results: "Toddlers with autism are in constant danger because they don't understand threats." The study also found that while toddlers with autism display similar levels of amusement as their typical and developmentally delayed counterparts, they are more prone to anger when placed in frustrating situations. This intriguing emotional dynamic adds another layer to the intricate puzzle of understanding autism spectrum disorder.
Parent reports, a valuable source of insight, indicate that children with autism often exhibit neutral or negative responses to emotional stimuli. This data suggests that toddlers on the autism spectrum might exhibit either a muted reaction to stimuli or an unusual balance between fear and joy compared to their typically developing peers.
Suzanne Macari, co-director of the Yale Early Social Cognition Program, shares her surprise at the findings: "We really didn't expect this. We know children with autism are more anxious and fearful later on in life, and we expected them to be more fearful in these probes." The intricate relationship between fear and anxiety prompts further inquiries into the emotional landscape of children with autism.
The study, involving 43 toddlers with autism, 16 with developmental delay, and 40 typical toddlers aged between 13 and 30 months, employed various scenarios to elicit emotional responses. Parents blew bubbles to induce happiness, restrained children's arms to incite frustration, and introduced fear stimuli such as a fake spider, a frightening toy dinosaur, and a masked individual.
The researchers meticulously analyzed video footage of each scenario, assessing facial expressions and vocalizations. In a subset of 56 children, skin conductance measurements were used to gauge physiological responses. Remarkably, physiological responses aligned with observed emotional reactions, bridging the gap between external expression and internal experience.
Notably, even in a social fear context where a stranger invaded personal space, children with autism exhibited less fear compared to their typically developing counterparts, reflecting a distinctive emotional pattern. The researchers dismissed the notion that these unexpected results were due to inattention, as children with autism maintained their focus on the stimuli for a comparable duration.
The study unveiled an intriguing twist: the intensity of fear and anger responses did not directly correlate with the severity of autism, as assessed through standard clinical evaluations. However, children with more severe autism displayed less joy than those with milder symptoms. These nuances suggest that while children with autism may appear as happy as their peers on the surface, their experience of joy might vary significantly.
Carla Mazefsky, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh, highlights the study's significance in inducing emotions in children with autism, although these emotions might manifest atypically. For instance, restraining a child's arms could evoke sensory distress alongside frustration.
The gender factor also enters the equation, with Carolien Rieffe, professor at the University of Leiden, noting that boys typically exhibit more fear than girls. Considering the study's demographics, where 88 percent of the autism group were boys, gender-related distinctions could contribute to the fear responses observed.
Interestingly, fearfulness in early childhood often predicts later anxiety in typical children and those with developmental delays. However, anxiety in individuals with autism might manifest in distinctive ways, prompting Katarzyna Chawarska's call to comprehend the unique mechanisms underlying anxiety emergence in this population.
The research is evolving, with ongoing efforts to track the emotional responses of the study's participants as they reach the age of 5, a period where anxiety levels can be effectively assessed. By observing how emotional patterns develop over time, researchers aim to gain insights into the progression of anxiety and fear in children with autism. This ongoing study holds the potential to inform more targeted interventions, ultimately enhancing the emotional well-being and safety of these children.
My Disability Plus is grateful to Jessica Wright for her article.
More references can be found below:
REFERENCES:
Macari S. et al. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry Epub ahead of print (2018) Abstract
TAGS: INSAR 2018, anxiety, autism, developmental delay, emotion processing
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