Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Nov;57(11):828-836.e2.
doi: 10.1016/j.jaac.2018.07.872. Epub 2018 Aug 29.

Emotional Expressivity in Toddlers With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Suzanne Macari  1 , Lauren DiNicola  1 , Finola Kane-Grade  1 , Emily Prince  1 , Angelina Vernetti  1 , Kelly Powell  1 , Scuddy Fontenelle 4th  1 , Katarzyna Chawarska  2
Affiliations

Emotional Expressivity in Toddlers With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Suzanne Macari et al. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2018 Nov.

Erratum in

  • Correction.
    [No authors listed] [No authors listed] J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2021 May;60(5):652. doi: 10.1016/j.jaac.2021.01.009. Epub 2021 Feb 5. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2021. PMID: 33579589 No abstract available.

Abstract

Objective: There is a prevailing notion that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit intense negative and attenuated positive emotions, although the empirical evidence regarding their emotional expressiveness (EE) is limited. Given the importance of emotions in shaping social and cognitive development, we examined intensity and valence of EE and links between EE and autism severity and parent-reported temperament in ASD.

Method: Toddlers (aged 21.2 months) with ASD (n = 43), developmental delay (DD, n = 16), and typical development (TD, n = 40) underwent standardized probes designed to induce anger, joy, and fear. Intensity of EE through facial and vocal channels were coded offline. Autism severity and temperament were quantified using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-2 (ADOS-2) and Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire (ECBQ).

Results: The ASD group exhibited less intense fear compared to both the DD and TD groups, more intense anger than DD but not TD, with no differences in joy intensity. All groups showed similar levels of incongruous negative EE. Intensity of fear and anger were not associated with severity of autism symptoms, but lower intensity of joy was related to greater autism severity. Expressed fear and joy were associated with temperament.

Conclusion: The study provides no support for a negative emotionality bias in ASD. Instead, toddlers with ASD display a muted response to threat and an accentuated response to goal blockage, whereas the ability to express positive emotions appears intact. Negative emotionality and social disability dimensions are independent. The study demonstrates the complexity of EE in ASD and motivates investigations into underlying mechanisms as well as its role in shaping complex phenotypes of affected children.

Keywords: autism; emotional expression; temperament; toddlers.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: Drs. Macari, Vernetti, Powell, Fontenelle, Chawarska, and Mss. DiNicola, Kane-Grade, and Prince report no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1. Peak Intensity (Marginal Means ± 1 SE) of Condition-Congruent Angry, Fearful, and Joyful Emotions During Anger, Fear, and Joy Conditions in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Developmental Delay (DD), and Typical Development (TD) Groups
Note: *p < .05, **p < .01, § = .137. Please note color figures are available online.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2. Peak Intensity (Marginal Means (± 1 SE) of Incongruent Fearful and Angry Emotions During the Joy Condition in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Developmental Delay (DD), and Typical Development (TD) Groups
Note: Please note color figures are available online.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM 5. 5th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association; 2013.
    1. Kanner L. Autistic disturbances of affective contact. Nervous Child. 1943;2(3):217–250. - PubMed
    1. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders; revised (DSM-III-R). Washington DC: American Psychiatric Association; 1987.
    1. Tinbergen E, Tinbergen N. The aetiology of childhood autism: a criticism of the Tinbergens’ theory: a rejoinder. Psychol Med. 1977;6:545–549. - PubMed
    1. Eisenberg N. The core and correlates of affective social competence. Social Dev. 2001;10: 120–124.

Publication types