title: Fear of Negative Evaluation Influences Eye Gaze in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Pilot Study.
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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology (0436), Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA. sww@vt.edu.|Child Study Center, 460 Turner St., Blacksburg, VA, 24060, USA. sww@vt.edu.
authors.forename: Susan W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: White
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology (0436), Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA.
authors.forename: Brenna B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Maddox
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology (0436), Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA.
authors.forename: Robin K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Panneton
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001007:Anxiety / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D003463:Cues; D005149:Facial Expression; D005239:Fear / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects
keywords: Adolescent; Autism; Eye gaze; Fear; Social anxiety