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The Association of the Broader Autism Phenotype with Emotion-Related Behaviors in Mothers of Children With and Without Autism Spectrum Traits

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Abstract

Broader autism phenotype (BAP) characteristics (pragmatic language deficits, aloofness, and rigidity) are prevalent in families of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and may influence emotion-related behaviors. The current study analyzed associations among BAP characteristics with emotion-related behaviors in mothers of children with and without ASD. Twenty-seven mothers completed BAP and emotion regulation (ER) questionnaires. Maternal affect was coded during an interaction task. BAP rigidity negatively correlated with the ER strategy reappraisal. BAP total and pragmatic scores positively correlated with observed negative affect. Associations remained significant in step-wise regressions that controlled for other BAPQ subscale scores. Findings suggest that pragmatic difficulties may interfere with positive mother–child interactions and mothers with high rigidity may benefit from learning adaptive ER strategies.

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Acknowledgments

This research was conducted through the Virginia Tech Center for Autism Research with support from the Virginia Tech Graduate School Development Program. We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of the parents and children who participated in this study and the Research Assistants who scored data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, 125 Baldwin Street, Athens, GA, 30602, USA

    Hannah M. Rea

  2. Department of Psychology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA

    Reina S. Factor, Deanna M. Swain & Angela Scarpa

  3. Virginia Tech Center for Autism Research, Blacksburg, VA, USA

    Reina S. Factor, Deanna M. Swain & Angela Scarpa

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  1. Hannah M. Rea
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  2. Reina S. Factor
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Contributions

HMR conceived of the study and coordinated the manuscript and editing processes; RSF assisted in creating the manuscript and assisted in data collection; DMS helped in writing the manuscript, conceiving of the study design, and collecting data; AS oversaw the paper completion, consulted on interpretation of results, and edited the manuscript in its entirety.

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Correspondence to Hannah M. Rea.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Rea, H.M., Factor, R.S., Swain, D.M. et al. The Association of the Broader Autism Phenotype with Emotion-Related Behaviors in Mothers of Children With and Without Autism Spectrum Traits. J Autism Dev Disord 49, 950–959 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-018-3785-5

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