title: How Anxious Do You Think I Am? Relationship Between State and Trait Anxiety in Children With and Without ASD During Social Tasks.
abstract: Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often exhibit increased anxiety, even in non-stressful situations. We investigate general anxiousness (anxiety trait) and responses to stressful situations (anxiety state) in 22 adolescents with ASD and 32 typically developing controls. We measured trait anxiety with standardized self- and parent-reported questionnaires. We used a Biopac system to capture state anxiety via skin conductance responses, mean heart rate and heart rate variability during high- and low-anxiety tasks. Results reveal higher trait anxiety in adolescents with ASD (p < 0.05) and no group difference in state anxiety. Increased parent-reported trait anxiety may predict decreased state anxiety during high-stress conditions. Together, these findings suggest that higher trait anxiety may result in dampened physical responses to stress.
authors.affiliation: FACE Lab, Emerson College, 120 Boylston Street, Boston, MA, 02459, USA. Julia_mertens@emerson.edu.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mertens
authors.affiliation: FACE Lab, Emerson College, 120 Boylston Street, Boston, MA, 02459, USA.
authors.forename: E R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Zane
authors.affiliation: FACE Lab, Emerson College, 120 Boylston Street, Boston, MA, 02459, USA.|Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Emerson College, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Neumeyer
authors.affiliation: FACE Lab, Emerson College, 120 Boylston Street, Boston, MA, 02459, USA. Ruth_grossman@emerson.edu.|Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Emerson College, Boston, MA, USA. Ruth_grossman@emerson.edu.|Shriver Center, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA. Ruth_grossman@emerson.edu.
authors.forename: R B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Grossman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D057566:Self Report / Q000592:standards; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards; D013850:Thinking
keywords: ASD; Anxiety; Biophysiology; Standardized measures