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. 2016 May;46(5):1528-37.
doi: 10.1007/s10803-013-1961-1.

Self-reported Pleasantness Ratings and Examiner-Coded Defensiveness in Response to Touch in Children with ASD: Effects of Stimulus Material and Bodily Location

Carissa J Cascio  1 , Jill Lorenzi  2   3 , Grace T Baranek  2
Affiliations

Self-reported Pleasantness Ratings and Examiner-Coded Defensiveness in Response to Touch in Children with ASD: Effects of Stimulus Material and Bodily Location

Carissa J Cascio et al. J Autism Dev Disord. 2016 May.

Abstract

Tactile defensiveness, characterized by behavioral hyperresponsiveness and negative emotional responses to touch, is a common manifestation of aberrant sensory processing in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and other developmental disabilities (DD). Variations in tactile defensiveness with the properties of the stimulus and the bodily site of stimulation have been addressed in adults with self-report of perceived tactile pleasantness, but not in children. We presented three materials (pleasant, unpleasant, social) at three bodily sites and measured both examiner-coded defensiveness and self-reported pleasantness from a group of children with ASD and two comparison groups (one with DD, one with typical development (TD)). The main findings were: (1) children with ASD and DD showed significantly more defensiveness reactions and lower pleasantness ratings than the TD group, with higher variability, (2) there was a double dissociation for the effects of material and bodily site of stimulation: while bodily site predicted behavioral defensiveness, material predicted pleasantness rating. Additionally, it was noted that (3) the most pleasant material and the social touch conditions best distinguished ASD and DD from TD on defensiveness, and (4) within the ASD group, social impairment and defensiveness in bodily sites associated with social touch were positively correlated, suggesting a clinically relevant distinction between social and discriminative touch in ASD.

Keywords: Affective; Defensiveness; Pleasantness; Self-report; Tactile; Touch.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
5-point scale used for affective ratings of tactile stimuli.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Box plots of affective ratings of pleasantness for each material in the three groups.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Box plots of examiner-coded rating of defensiveness for each bodily site in the three groups.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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