ERIC Number: EJ1160198
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017-Dec
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0162-3257
EISSN: N/A
Psychophysiological and Behavioral Responses to a Novel Intruder Threat Task for Children on the Autism Spectrum
South, Mikle; Taylor, Katherine M.; Newton, Tiffani; Christensen, Megan; Jamison, Nathan K.; Chamberlain, Paul; Johnston, Oliver; Crowley, Michael J.; Higley, J. Dee
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, v47 n12 p3704-3713 Dec 2017
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.
Descriptors: Children, Autism, Pervasive Developmental Disorders, Arousal Patterns, Symptoms (Individual Disorders), Emotional Response, Experiments, Control Groups, Comparative Analysis, Motion, Predictor Variables, Clinical Diagnosis, Social Behavior, Psychophysiology
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Institute on Drug Abuse (DHHS/PHS)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: K01DA034125