title: Autistic Traits and Symptoms of Social Anxiety are Differentially Related to Attention to Others' Eyes in Social Anxiety Disorder.
abstract: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and social anxiety disorder (SAD) have partly overlapping symptoms. Gaze avoidance has been linked to both SAD and ASD, but little is known about differences in social attention between the two conditions. We studied eye movements in a group of treatment-seeking adolescents with SAD (N = 25), assessing SAD and ASD dimensionally. The results indicated a double dissociation between two measures of social attention and the two symptom dimensions. Controlling for social anxiety, elevated autistic traits were associated with delayed orienting to eyes presented among distractors. In contrast, elevated social anxiety levels were associated with faster orienting away from the eyes, when controlling for autistic traits. This distinction deepens our understanding of ASD and SAD.
authors.affiliation: Uppsala Child and Baby Lab, Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Box 1225, Uppsala, Sweden. Johan.lundin_kleberg@psyk.uu.se.
authors.forename: Johan Lundin
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Kleberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Centre for Psychiatry Research, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.|Stockholm Health Care Services, Stockholm County Council, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Högström
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Centre for Psychiatry Research, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.|Stockholm Health Care Services, Stockholm County Council, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nord
authors.affiliation: Department of Women's and Children's Health, Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.|Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Center for Psychiatry Research, Stockholm County Council, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Sven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bölte
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Centre for Psychiatry Research, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.|Stockholm Health Care Services, Stockholm County Council, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Serlachius
authors.affiliation: Uppsala Child and Baby Lab, Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Box 1225, Uppsala, Sweden.|Department of Women's and Children's Health, Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.|Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Center for Psychiatry Research, Stockholm County Council, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Terje
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Falck-Ytter
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001288:Attention; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D005123:Eye; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D000072861:Phobia, Social / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Attention; Autism spectrum disorder (ASD); Avoidance; Broader autism phenotype; Eye tracking; Gaze avoidance; Orienting; Social anxiety disorder (SAD)