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
. 2022 Aug 8:13:918181.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.918181. eCollection 2022.

Joint attention performance in preschool-aged boys with autism or fragile X syndrome

Angela John Thurman  1   2 , Amanda Dimachkie Nunnally  1   2
Affiliations

Joint attention performance in preschool-aged boys with autism or fragile X syndrome

Angela John Thurman et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Early development marks a period of rapid learning facilitated by children's natural curiosity about the people around them. In children with typical development, these early social attentional preferences set the foundation for learning about and from the surrounding world of people. Much of this learning happens using joint attention, the ability to coordinate attention between people and objects of mutual interest. It is well documented that decreased gaze use is commonly observed in individuals with autism and individuals with fragile X syndrome (FXS). Despite the growing body of research comparing phenotypic similarities between individuals with autism and individuals with FXS, no studies have directly compared joint attention performance between these groups. In the present study, we considered the similarities and differences in joint attention between preschool-aged boys with autism or FXS, and the relation between joint attention, language, and other phenotypic characteristics known to differ between boys with autism and boys with FXS. Although joint attention appeared similar, between-group differences emerged when controlling for the influence of age, non-verbal IQ, and autism symptom severity. Differences were also observed when considering how joint attention performance related to other aspects of the phenotype. For example, strong positive associations were observed between joint attention and language performance in boys with autism but not boys with FXS, even after controlling for non-verbal IQ. In contrast, the negative association between joint attention and anxiety symptom severity was significant and stronger in boys with FXS than in autism. These data offer preliminary insights into the similarities and differences between the autism and FXS phenotypes.

Keywords: anxiety; autism spectrum disorder; fragile X syndrome; joint attention; language.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Between-group descriptive comparisons of total joint attention performance, with no adjustment (A) and after controlling for the effects of age, non-verbal IQ and autism symptom severity (B).
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Uncorrected between-group descriptive comparisons of joint attention performance as a function of elicitation condition.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Abbeduto L., McDuffie A. S. (2010). “Genetic syndromes associated with intellectual disabilities,” in Handbook of Medical Neuropsychology: Applications of Cognitive Neuroscience eds Armstrong C., Morrow L. (Cham: Springer; ). 10.1007/978-1-4419-1364-7_11 - DOI
    1. Abbeduto L., Berry-Kravis E. M., Sterling A. M., Sherman S. L., Edgin J. O., McDuffie A. S., et al. (2020). Expressive language sampling as a source of outcome measures for treatment studies in fragile X syndrome: feasibility, practice effects, test-retest reliability, and construct validity. J. Neurodev. Disord. 12:10. 10.1186/s11689-020-09314-5 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Abbeduto L., McDuffie A., Thurman A. J., Kover S. T. (2016). Language development in individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities: from phenotypes to treatments. Int. Rev. Res. Dev. Disabil. 50 71–118. 10.1016/bs.irrdd.2016.05.006 - DOI
    1. Adamson L. B., Bakeman R., Deckner D. F., Romski M. (2009). Joint engagement and the emergence of language in children with autism and Down Syndrome. J. Autism Dev. Disord. 39 84–96. 10.1007/s10803-008-0601-7 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. American Psychiatric Association (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edn. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.