The Association of the Broader Autism Phenotype with Emotion-Related Behaviors in Mothers of Children With and Without Autism Spectrum Traits

Overview

Journal J Autism Dev Disord

Publisher Springer

Date 2018 Nov 9

PMID 30406436

Citations 2

Authors

Hannah M Rea

Reina S Factor

Deanna M Swain

Angela Scarpa

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Broader autism phenotype (BAP) characteristics (pragmatic language deficits, aloofness, and rigidity) are prevalent in families of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and may influence emotion-related behaviors. The current study analyzed associations among BAP characteristics with emotion-related behaviors in mothers of children with and without ASD. Twenty-seven mothers completed BAP and emotion regulation (ER) questionnaires. Maternal affect was coded during an interaction task. BAP rigidity negatively correlated with the ER strategy reappraisal. BAP total and pragmatic scores positively correlated with observed negative affect. Associations remained significant in step-wise regressions that controlled for other BAPQ subscale scores. Findings suggest that pragmatic difficulties may interfere with positive mother-child interactions and mothers with high rigidity may benefit from learning adaptive ER strategies.

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