Emotion Regulation in Children with and without Autism: The Contribution of Temperament, Executive Function, and Sensory Experiences

Background: Children with autism often show difficulty regulating their emotional reactions and behaviors, as is evidenced by lengthy tantrums and trouble returning to a calm affective state (e.g., Loveland, 2005).  Emotion regulation is a critical dimension of typical children’s healthy social development and is regarded as an important element of adaptive functioning in social settings for children with ASD.  However, there exists limited work to date explaining individual differences in emotion regulation for this population.

Objectives: To investigate emotional competence in children with autism and a comparison sample of typically-developing children.  We will examine expressions of frustration and coping strategies, and whether executive function and sensory experiences explain individual differences in children’s emotional competence.

Methods:   Participants in the complete study will include 15 children with autism (3 - 6 years) and 15 typically-developing matched children.  Measures include a battery of laboratory tasks designed to measure self-regulation and parent questionnaires, including the Child Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ), Sensory Experiences Questionnaire (SEQ), Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Preschool Version (BRIEF), and Parents’ Reports of Children’s Coping Reactions.     

Results:   Preliminary data on nine children with autism indicate variability in the types of coping strategies parents report their children to typically use in stressful social situations. Venting and support-seeking were the most common responses, and instrumental or cognitive restructuring strategies were used least frequently.  Children whose sensory experiences were rated by their parents as more hyper-responsive were reported to engage in less attentional focusing, and those rated as more hypo-responsive were reported to have more inhibitory and emotional self-control issues.  Further analyses on the complete data set are in progress to assess group differences and to include observed measures of emotional competence from laboratory tasks.

Conclusions: Preliminary findings suggest meaningful individual differences in measures of children’s emotion regulation, executive function, and sensory experiences.