Mother and Stranger Comparison of Selective Attention in the Context of Jealousy and its link with Attachment

Background : Selective attention in a triadic interpersonal interaction (mother, target child, and a peer rival) – as requested in a jealousy situation – holds implications for understanding the emotional deficit in ASD. To experience jealousy, the child must develop a social bond with a significant other (attachment) and must understand thirdness. In autism, forming affective bonds and understanding others’ intentions are major deficits; thus, examination of selective attention towards the mother versus a stranger in jealousy situations and its link with attachment may illuminate these children's emotional deficit.

Objectives : Current study aimed to examine: (1) similarities and differences in selective attention markers of jealousy between children with HFASD and Typical development (TYP); (2) similarities and differences in jealousy expression in a personal situation (mother-child-peer rival) versus non-personal situation (stranger-child-peer rival); (3) differences in jealousy expression in a social scenario (mother/stranger reading a book to peer rival) versus non-social scenario (mother/stranger reading a book to self); (4) group differences in security of attachment; (5) links between selective attention markers of jealousy in the personal situation and attachment security.

Methods : Study included 30 children with HFASD and 30 TYP (ages 3-6 years); matched on SES, MA, VMA, NVMA, IQ, age, and sex (each study group included 4 girls). To examine jealousy, we manipulated two triadic social conditions: personal (mother-child-rival) and non-personal (stranger-child-rival). The mother/stranger put the target child's peer on her lap, cuddled the rival, and read a story aloud to the rival. Selective attention expressed through eye gaze, verbal comments, and gestures were coded, as well as the most direct and explicit expression of jealousy. In a control (nonsocial) scenario, the mother/stranger read a book to herself. Attachment was assessed using the observer Attachment Q-Set.

Results : Group differences in jealousy expressions were not found. The personal (mother) triadic situation provoked more explicit expressions of jealousy than the non-personal (stranger) situation in both groups. In addition, children in both groups (HFASD and TYP) made more verbal comments toward the mother than toward the stranger and displayed more actions to attract the mother's attention, compared to the stranger's. Furthermore, only in the social scenario was selective attention toward the mother higher than toward the stranger. Attachment security was lower for the HFASD than the TYP group, but attachment correlated negatively with selective attention jealousy verbalization markers for both groups, and with selective attention jealousy eye gaze markers only for HFASD.

Conclusions : The fact that selective attention markers of jealousy were higher in the mother than the stranger situation holds significant implications for understanding HFASD children’s intersubjective capabilities. Also, the correlation between jealousy and attachment substantiates the mother's role in the development of relationships in HFASD and TYP.