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Fear of Negative Evaluation Influences Eye Gaze in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Pilot Study

  • SI: Emotion Regulation and Psychiatric Comorbidity in ASD
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Abstract

Social anxiety is common among adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). In this modest-sized pilot study, we examined the relationship between social worries and gaze patterns to static social stimuli in adolescents with ASD (n = 15) and gender-matched adolescents without ASD (control; n = 18). Among cognitively unimpaired adolescents with ASD, self-reported fear of negative evaluation predicted greater gaze duration to social threat cues (i.e., faces depicting disgust and anger). By comparison, there was no relationship between self-reported social fears and gaze duration in the controls. These findings call attention to the potential import of the impact of co-occurring psychopathology such as social anxiety, and particularly fear of negative evaluation, on social attention and cognition with adolescents who have ASD.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the adolescents, and their parents, who volunteered in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology (0436), Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA

    Susan W. White, Brenna B. Maddox & Robin K. Panneton

  2. Child Study Center, 460 Turner St., Blacksburg, VA, 24060, USA

    Susan W. White

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  1. Susan W. White
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  2. Brenna B. Maddox
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Correspondence to Susan W. White.

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White, S.W., Maddox, B.B. & Panneton, R.K. Fear of Negative Evaluation Influences Eye Gaze in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Pilot Study. J Autism Dev Disord 45, 3446–3457 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-014-2349-6

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