Department of Pediatrics, University of Alberta/Autism Research Centre, Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Bloorview Research Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Dev Psychopathol. 2024 Feb;36(1):404-414. doi: 10.1017/S0954579422001286. Epub 2022 Dec 27.
Literature examining emotional regulation in infants with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has focused on parent report. We examined behavioral and physiological responses during an emotion-evoking task designed to elicit emotional states in infants. Infants at an increased likelihood for ASD (IL; have an older sibling with ASD; 96 not classified; 29 classified with ASD at age two) and low likelihood (LL; no family history of ASD; = 61) completed the task at 6, 12, and 18 months. The main findings were (1) the IL-ASD group displayed higher levels of negative affect during toy removal and negative tasks compared to the IL non-ASD and LL groups, respectively, (2) the IL-ASD group spent more time looking at the baseline task compared to the other two groups, and (3) the IL-ASD group showed a greater increase in heart rate from baseline during the toy removal and negative tasks compared to the LL group. These results suggest that IL children who are classified as ASD at 24 months show differences in affect, gaze, and heart rate during an emotion-evoking task, with potential implications for understanding mechanisms related to emerging ASD.
文献研究了自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）婴儿的情绪调节，主要关注的是家长报告。我们检查了在设计用于引起婴儿情绪的情绪诱发任务期间的行为和生理反应。具有较高自闭症可能性的婴儿（IL；有一个患有 ASD 的哥哥/姐姐；96 名未分类；29 名在两岁时被分类为 ASD）和低可能性（LL；没有自闭症家族史；= 61）分别在 6、12 和 18 个月时完成了任务。主要发现如下：（1）与 IL 非 ASD 和 LL 组相比，IL-ASD 组在玩具移除和负面任务期间表现出更高水平的负面情绪；（2）与其他两组相比，IL-ASD 组在基线任务上花费的时间更多；（3）与 LL 组相比，IL-ASD 组在玩具移除和负面任务期间的心率从基线增加更大。这些结果表明，在 24 个月时被归类为 ASD 的 IL 儿童在情绪诱发任务中表现出情绪、注视和心率的差异，这可能对理解与新兴 ASD 相关的机制具有重要意义。
