Early executive functioning predicts externalizing problems in neurodiverse preschoolers.

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often exhibit externalizing problems, which have been linked with increased anxiety and depression, peer rejection, and parental stress. Identification of early predictors of externalizing behaviors in autism will facilitate identification of vulnerable children and implementation of early preventative interventions. There is ample evidence that executive functioning, social functioning, and temperament are predictive of later externalizing problems in general populations, but less is known about these relations in ASD and other neurodiverse populations, particularly in the early preschool years. To address this gap, we assessed the relations between executive functioning, social functioning, and temperament at age 3 and externalizing problems at age 5 in a sample of neurodiverse children with ASD and other neurodevelopmental disorders and delays. Analyses revealed that severity of early executive functioning impairment predicted increased externalizing problems. Severity of social autism symptoms moderated this relationship such that the effect of executive functioning on externalizing problems decreased as autism symptoms increased. These findings suggest that executive functioning is an important target for identifying and developing interventions for vulnerable children and underscore the necessity of considering severity of autism symptoms when researching the development of externalizing problems in children with neurodevelopmental disorders.

Face-to-face live eye-tracking in toddlers with autism: Feasibility and impact of familiarity and face covering.

Studies utilizing eye-tracking methods have potential to promptly capture real-world dynamics of one of the core areas of vulnerability in autism spectrum disorders (ASD), selective social attention. So far, no studies have successfully reported utilizing the method to examine social attention in toddlers with neurodevelopmental vulnerabilities in real world and challenging settings such as an interactive face-to-face. This study examined the feasibility and validity of live eye-tracking method in response to live interaction occurring in several contexts in toddlers with and without ASD. Forty-seven toddlers with ASD, with atypical development (ATYP), or typically developing (TD), underwent a 30-s live eye-tracking procedure during a face-to-face interaction with a masked stranger using child-directed-speech (16 ASD, 14 ATYP, 17 TD; Mage = 23.44 months, SD = 6.02). Out of this group of toddlers, 29 (10 ASD, 8 ATYP, 11 TD, Mage = 21.97 months, SD = 5.76) underwent the same procedure with one of their maskless parent. Task completion rate, calibration accuracy, and affective response (feasibility measures) as well as attention to the task and the social partner (validity measures) were examined. Task completion rate and calibration accuracy were excellent. Despite the challenging context of face-to-face interaction, the toddlers exhibited a neutral affect, and high attention to the task and the speaker. As anticipated, toddlers with ASD looked less at the social partner compared with control groups. However, attention was comparable between the Stranger and Parent conditions, indicating that the effect was consistent regardless of presence of face covering or the familiarity of the interactive partner. The study demonstrates the high feasibility and validity of a live eye-tracking task involving face-to-face interaction in neurodiverse toddlers with social vulnerabilities. The effect of diminished attention to social partners in toddlers with autism is robust and present when interacting with an unfamiliar person and parent. The results suggest that a brief live eye-tracking method constitutes a promising ecologically valid candidate biomarker and potential intervention outcome in autism.

Are you laughing with me or at me? Psychopathic traits and the ability to distinguish between affiliation and dominance laughter cues.

OBJECTIVE: Laughter conveys important information that supports social communication and bonding. Research suggests that unique acoustic properties distinguish laughter that promotes affiliation from laughter that conveys dominance, but little is known about potential individual differences in laughter interpretation or contagion based on these specified social functions of laughter. Psychopathy is associated with both affiliative deficits (e.g., lack of empathy and impaired social bonding) and behaviors that assert social dominance (e.g., manipulativeness). Thus, relationships between psychopathic traits and impaired laughter interpretation or contagion could give insight into etiological pathways to psychopathy. METHOD: In two studies conducted with four independent samples (total N = 770), participants categorized laughter clips that varied in the degree of affiliation or dominance conveyed. RESULTS: Participants overall drew rich and accurate social inferences from dominant and affiliative laughter and modulated their interest in joining in with laughter based on the type and degree of affiliation and dominance conveyed. However, individuals higher in psychopathic traits failed to distinguish between laughter types and did not modulate their level of engagement based on laughter features. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest a potential mechanism that underlies the broader social difficulties associated with psychopathic traits.