Exploring the Relationship between Prosodic Control and Social Competence in Children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder

Alexithymia is characterized by difficulties identifying and describing one's own emotions and the emotions of others. These challenges with understanding emotions in people with alexithymia may give rise to difficulties with social interactions. Given that alexithymia frequently co-occurs with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and that both populations have difficulties with social interactions, it is of interest to determine whether alexithymia can help to parse some of the heterogeneity in social competence in autistic and nonautistic individuals. The caregivers of 241 children (6-14 years old), including 120 autistic, and 121 nonautistic, rated their child's social competence using the Multidimensional Social Competence Scale (MSCS), autism traits using the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), and alexithymia traits using the Children's Alexithymia Measure (CAM). Regression analyses indicated that age, IQ, sex, AQ, and CAM scores accounted for 40.2% of the variance in autistic children's, and 68.2% of the variance in nonautistic children's, parent-reported social competence. Importantly, after controlling for age, IQ, sex, and AQ scores, CAM scores alone accounted for an additional 16.2% of the variance in autistic children's, and 17.4% of the variance in nonautistic children's social competence. These results indicate that higher alexithymia traits predict lower levels of social competence, suggesting that increased difficulty in identifying and describing one's own emotions and the emotions of others is associated with poorer social competence. Furthermore, CAM scores were found to partially mediate the relationship between autistic traits and social competence, suggesting that comorbid alexithymia traits may be partially responsible for poor social competence in individuals with high autistic traits. This research contributes to the understanding of the factors associated with the development of social competence and highlights alexithymia as a potential target for identification and intervention to improve social competence. LAY SUMMARY: Alexithymia is a condition where people find it hard to think and talk about their (and others') feelings. About 50% of autistic people have alexithymia. This might be why they have social and emotional difficulties. Parents answered questions about alexithymia and social difficulties their children have. Children with more alexithymia problems had poorer social skills. Thus, alexithymia may be related to social problems faced by autistic and nonautistic children.

The current study examined whether social competence and autistic traits are related to anxiety and depression in autistic and non-autistic children. Parents of 340 children aged 6 to 12years old, including 186 autistic and 154 non-autistic children completed the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) to assess their child's autistic traits, the Multidimensional Social Competence Scale (MSCS) to assess their child's social competence, and the Behaviour Assessment Scale for Children 2 (BASC-2) to assess their child's internalizing symptoms of depression and anxiety, and children were administered the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence, Second Edition (WASI-II) to assess their intellectual abilities. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to investigate the relations between social competence, autistic traits, anxiety, and depression. Social competence was related to anxiety and depression symptoms in autistic children, but only depression symptoms in non-autistic children, above and beyond the effects of autistic traits, IQ and age. Autistic children were also reported to experience more severe anxiety and depression symptoms, and more autistic traits were related to higher levels of anxiety and depression in both groups. These findings suggest that social competence and internalizing symptoms are intricately connected in autistic children and need to be jointly considered in both assessment and intervention. The social implications are discussed with an emphasis on acceptance of diverse social styles as a viable avenue to reduce children's internalizing symptoms.

Autistic individuals often face challenges perceiving and expressing emotions, potentially stemming from differences in speech prosody. Here we explore how autism diagnoses between groups, and measures of social competence within groups may be related to, first, children's speech characteristics (both prosodic features and amount of spontaneous speech), and second, to these two factors in mothers' speech to their children. Autistic (n = 21) and non-autistic (n = 18) children, aged 7-12 years, participated in a Lego-building task with their mothers, while conversational speech was recorded. Mean F0, pitch range, pitch variability, and amount of spontaneous speech were calculated for each child and their mother. The results indicated no differences in speech characteristics across autistic and non-autistic children, or across their mothers, suggesting that conversational context may have large effects on whether differences between autistic and non-autistic populations are found. However, variability in social competence within the group of non-autistic children (but not within autistic children) was predictive of children's mean F0, pitch range and pitch variability. The amount of spontaneous speech produced by mothers (but not their prosody) predicted their autistic children's social competence, which may suggest a heightened impact of scaffolding for mothers of autistic children. Together, results suggest complex interactions between context, social competence, and adaptive parenting strategies in driving prosodic differences in children's speech.

Autistic children are less likely to participate in sport than non-autistic children, but we know little about how patterns of participation in team and individual sport change across childhood. Drawing on a nationally representative cohort of Australian children, this study analysed trajectories of participation in team and individual sport between the ages of 8 and 15 using a group-based multiple trajectory modelling approach. A five-group solution was found to be the best fit to the data, identifying distinct patterns of sport participation over time. In comparison with non-autistic children, autistic children were more likely to belong to the 'sport avoider' group with low participation in both team and individual sport at all ages. Conversely, autistic children were less likely to be classified in the 'team sportsperson', 'ex-team sportsperson' or 'mixed sportsperson' groups. No difference in the likelihood of belonging to the 'individual sportsperson' group was found. Risk factors for trajectory group membership were similar for autistic and non-autistic children. Our findings indicate that autistic children are particularly likely to experience exclusion from team sport environments, and this exclusion persists over time. Similar rates of participation in individual sport for autistic and non-autistic children indicate that these environments may be more supportive for autistic children.Lay abstractAutistic children are less likely to participate in sport than non-autistic children, but we know little about how patterns of participation in team and individual sport change across childhood. Drawing on data for a group of Australian children whose families were reinterviewed between ages 8 and 15, the present study patterns of participation in team and individual sport over time. Findings from the analysis suggested that children could be grouped into five patterns of participation in team and individual sport between the ages of 8 and 15. In comparison with non-autistic children, autistic children were more likely to belong to the 'sport avoider' group with low participation in both team and individual sport at all ages. Conversely, autistic children were less likely to belong to the 'team sportsperson', 'ex-team sportsperson' or 'mixed sportsperson' groups. Similar numbers of autistic and non-autistic children belonged to the 'individual sportsperson' group. Factors linked to patterns of participation over time were similar for autistic and non-autistic children. Our findings indicate that autistic children are particularly likely to experience exclusion from team sport environments, and this exclusion persists over time. Similar rates of participation in individual sport for autistic and non-autistic children indicate that these environments may be more supportive for autistic children.

To compare the national prevalence of meeting physical activity, screen time, and sleep guidelines between autistic and nonautistic children and identify factors associated with meeting these guidelines. Prevalences for each health-determining behavior were estimated using the 2022 National Survey of Children's Health, using national guidelines. Complex survey-weighted logistic regression, adjusted for demographic covariates, was used to measure associations between autism and meeting each guideline, and to identify potential child, family, community, and policy-level determinants of each behavior among autistic children. The prevalence of meeting all three guidelines was low among autistic and nonautistic children across age groups. Physical activity guidelines were met at similarly low rates among autistic and nonautistic children; however, autistic children of all age groups were less likely to meet screen time guidelines, and those in the 3-5 and 6-11years age groups were less likely to meet sleep guidelines. Moderate/severe autism, irregular bedtime, low parental education, and lacking a medical home were associated with lower likelihood of meeting sleep guidelines. Irregular bedtime and high income were associated with lower likelihood of meeting physical activity guidelines. Autistic children meet guidelines for physical activity, screen time, and sleep at a low prevalence and less than their nonautistic peers. Clinicians should develop individualized plans to facilitate adherence to guidelines among autistic children. Interventions should address modifiable factors, including bedtime regularity and access to medical homes. Further research and policy efforts should be made to improve adherence to guidelines among autistic children and subsequently reduce health disparities.

Social Competence in Children.- Development of Social Competence in Children.- Assessment of Social Competence in Children.- Social Competence in Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.- Social Competence in Children with Learning Disabilities.- Social Competence in Children with Nonverbal Learning Disabilities.- Social Competence in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.- Social Competence in Mentally Handicapped Children.- Social Competence in Children Who Are Gifted and Talented.- Social Competence in Children with Externalizing Disorders.- Social Competence in Children with Internalizing Disorders.- Social Competence in Children with Acquired and Chronic Disorders.

Atypical face scanning is suggested to be related to social interactions and communicative deficits in autistic children. We systematically examined whether autistic and non-autistic children used consistent scanning patterns when performing different tasks and scanning different types of faces. We found that autistic children scanned faces more variably than non-autistic children: While non-autistic children used more consistent scanning patterns, autistic children's scanning patterns changed frequently when watching different faces. Autistic children's variable face scanning patterns might delay and impair face processing, resulting in a social interaction deficit. What's more, variable scanning patterns may create an unstable and unpredictable perception of the environment for autistic children. Developing in such an unstable environment might motivate autistic children to retract from the environment, avoid social interaction, and focus instead on the performance of repetitive behavior. Therefore, studying face scanning variability might represent a new avenue for understanding core symptoms in autistic people.

ContextThyroid hormones affect neurological development and function, but detailed studies of thyroid hormones and metabolites in autism are lacking.ObjectiveTo characterize thyroid function and metabolism in autistic children.MethodologyThis cross-sectional study compared 788 autistic children (mean age 7.6 ± 3.9 years, 78% male) with 301 non-autistic children (mean age 7.8 ± 4.0 years, 48% male; comprising 215 (71.4%) non-autistic siblings of participants and 86 (28.6%) unrelated individuals). Plasma TSH, free T4 (FT4) and free T3 (FT3) were measured by automated immunoassay, and total T4, total T3 and thyroid hormone metabolites by customized liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LCMS/MS). Regression analyses were adjusted for age and sex.ResultsTSH concentrations were similar in autistic and non-autistic children (median 2.3 vs 2.1 mU/L, P = 0.64). FT4 was significantly lower in autistic children (18.4 vs 18.7 pmol/L, P = 0.0003), as was FT3 (7.0 vs 7.1pmol/L, P<0.0001), with no significant difference in the FT4:FT3 ratio (P = 0.24). Total T4 was lower in autistic children (178 vs 194 nmol/L, P = 0.0026, as was total T3 (2.2 vs 2.4 nmol/L, P = 0.018), with no significant difference in the T4:T3 ratio (P = 0.099). Two metabolites were significantly lower in autistic children: 3,5-T2 (0.010 vs 0.021 nmol/L, P<0.0001) and 3,3’-T2 (0.12 vs 0.16 nmol/L, P<0.0001), whereas T0 levels were higher (1.5 vs 1.1 nmol/L, P = 0.028).ConclusionsCirculating thyroid hormones and metabolites differ between autistic and non-autistic children, although the observed differences are small. The study demonstrates the utility of LCMS/MS for in-depth characterization of thyroid hormone economy, with potentially wide applications.

Many autistic individuals face social challenges that may be due to the negative perceptions of their non-autistic peers. This study investigated school-aged children’s first impressions of autistic and non-autistic children. Thirty-seven children (ages 5-12 years) watched brief videos of autistic and non-autistic children discussing their interests and rated these children’s traits, and their behavioral intentions towards the children. Autistic children were rated as more awkward, aggressive, and less likeable, though the raters’ willingness to interact with the children in the videos was similar for both autistic and non-autistic children. The raters’ negative perceptions of the autistic children were not related to the raters' age, IQ, sex, autistic traits, or social competence. Future work should aim to further investigate what factors influence biases. These findings highlight the need for interventions in school settings to address early perceptions of autism. Educating children about autism can help challenge stereotypes and promote inclusion, ultimately fostering more positive interactions between autistic and non-autistic children.

Maximal grip strength, a measure of how much force a person's hand can generate when squeezing an object, may be an effective method for understanding potential neurobiological differences during motor tasks. Grip strength in autistic individuals may be of particular interest due to its unique developmental trajectory. While autism-specific differences in grip-brain relationships have been found in adult populations, it is possible that such differences in grip-brain relationships may be present at earlier ages when grip strength is behaviorally similar in autistic and non-autistic groups. Further, such neural differences may lead to the later emergence of diagnostic-group grip differences in adolescence. The present study sought to examine this possibility, while also examining if grip strength could elucidate the neuro-motor sources of phenotypic heterogeneity commonly observed within autism. Using high resolution, multi-shell diffusion, and quantitative R1 relaxometry imaging, this study examined how variations in key sensorimotor-related white matter pathways of the proprioception input, lateral grasping, cortico-cerebellar, and corticospinal networks were associated with individual variations in grip strength in 68 autistic children and 70 non-autistic (neurotypical) children (6-11 years-old). In both groups, results indicated that stronger grip strength was associated with higher proprioceptive input, lateral grasping, and corticospinal (but not cortico-cerebellar modification) fractional anisotropy and R1, indirect measures concordant with stronger microstructural coherence and increased myelination. Diagnostic group differences in these grip-brain relationships were not observed, but the autistic group exhibited more variability particularly in the cortico-cerebellar modification indices. An examination into the variability within the autistic group revealed that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) features moderated the relationships between grip strength and both fractional anisotropy and R1 relaxometry in the premotor-primary motor tract of the lateral grasping network and the cortico-cerebellar network tracts. Specifically, in autistic children with elevated ADHD features (60% of the autistic group) stronger grip strength was related to higher fractional anisotropy and R1 of the cerebellar modification network (stronger microstructural coherence and more myelin), whereas the opposite relationship was observed in autistic children with reduced ADHD features. Together, this work suggests that while the foundational elements of grip strength are similar across school-aged autistic and non-autistic children, neural mechanisms of grip strength within autistic children may additionally depend on the presence of ADHD features. Specifically, stronger, more coherent connections of the cerebellar modification network, which is thought to play a role in refining and optimizing motor commands, may lead to stronger grip in children with more ADHD features, weaker grip in children with fewer ADHD features, and no difference in grip in non-autistic children. While future research is needed to understand if these findings extend to other motor tasks beyond grip strength, these results have implications for understanding the biological basis of neuromotor control in autistic children and emphasize the importance of assessing co-occurring conditions when evaluating brain-behavior relationships in autism.

Parental meta-emotion philosophy refers to parents' feelings and behaviors toward their own and their children's emotions. It reflects parental beliefs about emotion socialization. Research has indicated that maternal positive meta-emotion philosophy (e.g. emotion coaching) is associated with children's emotional competence, social competence and that maternal negative meta-emotion philosophy (etc. emotion dismissing) is related with children's behavior problem. However, little research has been conducted on paternal meta-emotion philosophy. Moreover, there is inadequate research on parental emotion noninvolvement and emotion dysfunction. It has been suggested that children's competence may be a mediator of the relations between parental emotion socialization belief or goal and children's social outcomes. It is also reasonable to argue that parents' beliefs or goals about emotion may also affect their own emotion-related behavior and emotion expressivity. As such, parental emotion expressivity may play a mediated role in relations between parental emotion-related beliefs and children's social competence. The current study explored relations among parental meta-emotion philosophy, emotion expressivity, and children's social competence. We hypothesized that parental emotion expressivity would mediate the relations between parental meta-emotion philosophy and children's social competence. Three hundred and forty one children aged 3-5 years and their parents participated in the study. Child social competence was assessed using the Early School Behavior Rating Scale reported by mothers. Fathers and mothers reported their own emotion expressivity using the Self-Expressiveness in the Family Questionnaire and meta-emotion philosophy using the Parental Meta-Emotion Philosophy Scale. Multiple regression analyses and path analyses revealed the following results. First, paternal emotion coaching philosophy was positively associated with children's social competence, and paternal emotion dysfunction philosophy was negatively associated with children's social competence. Paternal positive expressivity was positively associated with children's social competence whereas paternal negative emotional expressivity was negatively associated with children's social competence. Paternal positive and negative emotion expressivity mediated relations between paternal emotion coaching and children's social competence. In addition, paternal negative emotion expressivity mediated relations between paternal emotion dysfunction and children's social competence. Second, maternal emotion coaching philosophy was positively associated with children's social competence, and maternal emotion dysfunctional philosophy was negatively associated with children's social competence. Further, maternal positive emotional expressivity was positively associated with children's social competence, but negative emotional expressivity was not associated with children's social competence. The relation between maternal emotion coaching and children's social competence was mediated by maternal emotion expressivity. These results indicated that parental emotion-related beliefs or goals not only were directly associated with children's social competence, but also had indirect effects on children's social competence through emotion-related reflection and behavior.

The nature of mother-child interaction in autism and the maternal approach characteristics that elicit social response in children with autism were examined in two studies. Mother-child play sessions of 24 preschool children with autism and 24 typically developing preschoolers were compared in Study 1, and play sessions of 9 mothers with their autistic child and with their nonautistic child were compared in Study 2. Mother-child interactions were coded using the Approach Withdrawal Interaction Coding System to quantify maternal approach behaviors and child responses. Results of Study 1 indicate that, although the quantity of approaches did not differ between mothers with their autistic children and mothers with their nonautistic children, there were qualitative differences. Mothers used more physical contact, more high-intensity behaviors, and fewer social verbal approaches with autistic children. Results of Study 2 replicated these findings with mothers showing a similar pattern of approach toward their autistic children but not their nonautistic children. Although autistic children displayed lower contingency to maternal approaches in general, they showed greater responsiveness to approaches involving increased physical proximity and/or containing nonverbal object use. Mothers socially engaged both autistic and nonautistic children. The implications for parent training and intervention are discussed.

Although autism inclusion and acceptance has increased in recent years, autistic people continue to face stigmatization, exclusion, and victimization. Based on brief 10-second videos, non-autistic adults rate autistic adults less favourably than they rate non-autistic adults in terms of traits and behavioural intentions. In the current study, we extended this paradigm to investigate the first impressions of autistic and non-autistic children by non-autistic adult raters and examined the relationship between the rater's own characteristics and bias against autistic children. Segments of video recorded interviews from 15 autistic and 15 non-autistic children were shown to 346 undergraduate students in audio with video, audio only, video only, transcript, or still image conditions. Participants rated each child on a series of traits and behavioural intentions toward the child, and then completed a series of questionnaires measuring their own social competence, autistic traits, quantity and quality of past experiences with autistic people, and explicit autism stigma. Overall, autistic children were rated more negatively than non-autistic children, particularly in conditions containing audio. Raters with higher social competence and explicit autism stigma rated autistic children more negatively, whereas raters with more autistic traits and more positive past experiences with autistic people rated autistic children more positively. These rapid negative judgments may contribute to the social exclusion experienced by autistic children. The findings indicate that certain personal characteristics may be related to more stigmatised views of autism and decreased willingness to interact with the autistic person. The implications of the findings are discussed in relation to the social inclusion and well-being of autistic people.

This study examined involuntary capture of attention, overt attention, and stimulus valence and arousal ratings, all factors that can contribute to potential attentional biases to face and train objects in children with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In the visual domain, faces are particularly captivating, and are thought to have a ‘special status’ in the attentional system. Research suggests that similar attentional biases may exist for other objects of expertise (e.g. birds for bird experts), providing support for the role of exposure in attention prioritization. Autistic individuals often have circumscribed interests around certain classes of objects, such as trains, that are related to vehicles and mechanical systems. This research aimed to determine whether this propensity in autistic individuals leads to stronger attention capture by trains, and perhaps weaker attention capture by faces, than what would be expected in non-autistic children. In Experiment 1, autistic children (6–14 years old) and age- and IQ-matched non-autistic children performed a visual search task where they manually indicated whether a target butterfly appeared amongst an array of face, train, and neutral distractors while their eye-movements were tracked. Autistic children were no less susceptible to attention capture by faces than non-autistic children. Overall, for both groups, trains captured attention more strongly than face stimuli and, trains had a larger effect on overt attention to the target stimuli, relative to face distractors. In Experiment 2, a new group of children (autistic and non-autistic) rated train stimuli as more interesting and exciting than the face stimuli, with no differences between groups. These results suggest that: (1) other objects (trains) can capture attention in a similar manner as faces, in both autistic and non-autistic children (2) attention capture is driven partly by voluntary attentional processes related to personal interest or affective responses to the stimuli.

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) often suffer gastrointestinal problems consistent with imbalances in the gut microbial population. Treatment with antibiotics or pro/prebiotics has been postulated to regulate microbiota and improve gut symptoms, but there is a lack of evidence for such approaches, especially for prebiotics. This study assessed the influence of a prebiotic galactooligosaccharide (B-GOS) on gut microbial ecology and metabolic function using faecal samples from autistic and non-autistic children in an in vitro gut model system. Bacteriology was analysed using flow cytometry combined with fluorescence in situ hybridization and metabolic activity by HPLC and 1H-NMR. Consistent with previous studies, the microbiota of children with ASD contained a higher number of Clostridium spp. and a lower number of bifidobacteria compared with non-autistic children. B-GOS administration significantly increased bifidobacterial populations in each compartment of the models, both with autistic and non-autistic-derived samples, and lactobacilli in the final vessel of non-autistic models. In addition, changes in other bacterial population have been seen in particular for Clostridium, Rosburia, Bacteroides, Atopobium, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Sutterella spp. and Veillonellaceae. Furthermore, the addition of B-GOS to the models significantly altered short-chain fatty acid production in both groups, and increased ethanol and lactate in autistic children.