Assessment of temperament in children with autism spectrum disorders

Abstract

To explore the temperament and its correlates in children with autism spectrum disorders. The cross-sectional study was conducted in Lahore, Pakistan, from February 2015 to June 2016, and comprised children aged 5-11 years diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders selected from different institutes. A detailed demographic questionnaire, Temperament in Middle Childhood questionnaire and Childhood Behaviour questionnaire were administered through in-depth clinical interviews to collect information regarding temperament and significant demographic variables of the subjects. Of the 92 subjects, there were 61(66%) boys and 31(34%) girls. Overall mean age was 8.62}1.87 years. The girls had relatively high scores on negative affectivity 19.54 }5.14 (d=0.14) than boys. Whereas, boys scored comparatively higher on surgency 15.81}6.80 (d=0.21) and effortful control 13.69}3.72 (d=0.31) domains of temperament than girls. Negative affectivity shared significant inverse association with cognitive functioning r= - 0.35 (p=0.01). However, surgency r =0.17 and effortful control domains r =0.34 (p=0.01)were positively associated with intellectual functioning. Children with autism spectrum disorders showed a temperament profile different from children following typical development.