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Maternal Affect During a Challenging Mother–Child Interaction: The Effects of Broad Autism Phenotype and Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia Reactivity in Mothers of Children With and Without Autism Spectrum Disorder

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Abstract

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) is proposed to index cognitive and behavioral inflexibility. Broad autism phenotype (BAP) traits are prevalent in family members of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The study investigated whether RSA and BAP traits in mothers of typically developing (TD) children and mothers of children with ASD influence maternal affect. It was hypothesized that these factors would interact to influence mother–child interactions. Twenty-three mother–child dyads participated in a challenging interaction while measuring mother’s RSA. Results indicated that mothers of children with ASD show different RSA reactivity than mothers of TD children. Furthermore, preliminary analyses revealed RSA reactivity moderated the relationship between mothers’ rigidity and maternal affect during this interaction. Implications for future research and interventions are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, 109 Williams Hall, Blacksburg, VA, 24060, USA

    Emma E. Condy, Reina S. Factor, Deanna M. Swain, Marlene V. Strege & Angela Scarpa

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

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

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  1. Emma E. Condy
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  2. Reina S. Factor
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  3. Deanna M. Swain
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  4. Marlene V. Strege
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  5. Angela Scarpa
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Contributions

RF & DS completed data collection procedures and supervised behavioral coding. EC, RF, DS, and MS were responsible for theory development and analysis of the data. EC, RF, DS, MS, & AS were responsible for the writing of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Emma E. Condy.

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Condy, E.E., Factor, R.S., Swain, D.M. et al. Maternal Affect During a Challenging Mother–Child Interaction: The Effects of Broad Autism Phenotype and Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia Reactivity in Mothers of Children With and Without Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 49, 4891–4900 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04198-4

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