Long‐Term Stability of Individual Differences in the Emotional Responsiveness of Children with Autism
- 1 May 1996
- journal article
- Published by Wiley in Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
- Vol. 37 (4), 461-467
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.1996.tb01427.x
Abstract
The results of two studies designed to investigate the short‐ and long‐term stability of autistic children's responsiveness to displays of negative emotions in others are reported here. In the first study we measured the attention and behavioural responses of 22 autistic children to another's distress about a year and a half after initial assessments in a similar situation. In the second study, the children were re‐assessed in two affective contexts over 5 years after initial testing. Individual differences in early responses to affect predicted affective responsiveness at each follow‐up. Emotional responsiveness was positively associated with concurrent cognitive skills al each point of assessment. Furthermore, autistic children discriminated between affective and non‐affective contexts when this discrimination was tested at the second follow‐up.Keywords
This publication has 27 references indexed in Scilit:
- Focused and social attention of autistic children in interactions with familiar and unfamiliar adults: A comparison of autistic, mentally retarded, and normal childrenDevelopment and Psychopathology, 1993
- Responses to the Negative Emotions of Others by Autistic, Mentally Retarded, and Normal ChildrenChild Development, 1992
- Development of concern for others.Developmental Psychology, 1992
- Affective exchanges between young autistic children and their mothersJournal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 1990
- A longitudinal study of joint attention and language development in autistic childrenJournal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 1990
- The effect of social context on the functional communication skills of autistic childrenJournal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 1989
- What's in a face? The case of autismBritish Journal of Psychology, 1988
- Caregiver interactions with autistic childrenJournal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 1988
- Does the autistic child have a “theory of mind” ?Cognition, 1985
- Autistic children's responses to structure and to interpersonal demandsJournal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 1981