Attention and Proximity to Threat Among Toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Background: Among children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), comorbidity with anxiety disorders later in life is common, affecting up to 40% of youth with ASD (van Steensel, Bogels, & Perrin, 2011). In non-ASD populations, social inhibition and anxiety have been linked to individual differences in attention and proximity to a threatening stimulus during early childhood (Crockenberg & Leerkes, 2004, 2006). Little is known about proximity and attention to threat or their relationship to negative affectivity, a precursor to later anxiety, among toddlers with ASD.

Objectives: The first goal was to investigate differences between toddlers with ASD and TD in terms of attention and proximity to threat. The second goal was to investigate the associations between these variables and parent-reported negative affectivity.

Methods: Participants were 20 toddlers from 13.9 to 28.3 months of age (M=20.6 months) with ASD (n=12) and typical development (TD; n=8). Behavioral samples were taken from the Spider Episode portion of the Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery (LabTAB; Goldsmith, et al., 1987), during which children sat next to their parents as a large, realistic remote-controlled spider crawled toward them. Proximity variables included proportion of the episode the participant spent approaching the spider, staying in place/not moving, or escaping. Attention was measured using the proportion of the episode spent looking at or away from the spider. Negative Affectivity was derived from the Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire (ECBQ; Putnam, Gartstein, & Rothbart, 2006) with subscales including Fear, Discomfort, Frustration, Motor Activation, Perceptual Sensitivity, Sadness, Shyness, and Soothability.

Results: Groups differed in proximity to the spider, with toddlers with ASD approaching for a larger proportion of the episode compared to toddlers with TD, t (18) = -2.01, p = .06. The TD group stayed in place for a larger proportion compared to the group with ASD, t (18) = 2.18, p = .04.  Effect sizes were large: approach, d = .95; staying in place, d = 1.03. Groups did not differ in the time spent escaping from, looking at, or looking away from the spider. Within both groups, the Negative Affectivity composite was moderately positively correlated with proportion of time spent escaping (r = .38, p = .12).

Conclusions: Our findings show that toddlers with ASD are more likely to approach a threatening stimulus than toddlers with TD, who are more likely to stay in place compared to the ASD group. Higher levels of approach suggest an atypical response to threat in very young children with ASD. Additionally, longer escape behavior was observed in those toddlers with greater parent-reported negative affectivity, highlighting the relationship between a fear response (escape) and a precursor of anxiety (negative affectivity).  By May, we expect to have results for approximately 35 children in each group (N= 70). With these greater numbers we will be able to evaluate correlations within both the ASD and TD groups.