Thesis
Caregiver-observer agreement of emotion expressivity in autistic and typically developing young children
Master of Science (M.S.), Drexel University
Jun 2024
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00010673
Abstract
Emotion expression is thought to present differently in autistic individuals and differences in presentation can be an early indicator of autism. However, there is no clear consensus on the measurement of emotion expressivity in early childhood. Caregiver report may provide a cost effective and time efficient method to measure emotion expressivity, while trained observers may report expressivity with an objective lens, but within a specific context. This study aims to investigate the level of agreement between caregivers and trained observers regarding emotion expression in both autistic and typically developing young children. Forty-nine children (27 diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, 22 typically developing) with a mean age of 41.94 months (SD = 11.25) were assessed for facial expressions of joy and frustration through a play-based temperament battery, and caregivers completed emotion expression questionnaires. Caregivers of autistic children were more likely to report differences from expectation in how their child expressed emotions, compared to caregivers of typically developing children, and trained observers found lowered frequency of joy during play-based tasks. Overall, low caregiver-trained observer agreement was found in both typically developing and autistic groups, with no group differences in agreement identified. There was moderate agreement between caregivers and trained observers on decreased positive emotion expressivity, suggesting a potential avenue to measure attenuated positive emotion expressivity in autistic young children. These findings contribute to our current knowledge of multi-method, multi-informant agreement regarding emotion expressivity and provide future avenues of research to pursue regarding atypical emotion expression as an early indicator of autism spectrum disorder.
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Details
- Title
- Caregiver-observer agreement of emotion expressivity in autistic and typically developing young children
- Creators
- Hannah McKinnon Register
- Contributors
- Andrea T. Wieckowski (Advisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Master of Science (M.S.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Number of pages
- vi, 53 pages
- Resource Type
- Thesis
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Psychological and Brain Sciences (Psychology); College of Arts and Sciences; Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 991021890115204721