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The effects of ‘preferedness of task’ on stress, emotion, and behaviour responses to forced activity transitions in boys with ASD
Author(s) -
Bitsika Vicki,
Sharpley Christopher F.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
international journal of developmental neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.761
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1873-474X
pISSN - 0736-5748
DOI - 10.1016/j.ijdevneu.2019.04.003
Subject(s) - psychology , task (project management) , autism spectrum disorder , developmental psychology , distress , transition (genetics) , stress (linguistics) , audiology , cognitive psychology , autism , clinical psychology , medicine , biochemistry , chemistry , linguistics , philosophy , management , economics , gene
Background Many children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) exhibit distress when asked to transition from one task to another. This study aimed to determine if physiological stress during transition was due to ASD‐related rigidity or to their preference for some tasks over others. Method The effects of change of task alone versus a change in task ‘preferedness’ when undergoing forced activity transition were investigated in 29 boys with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Results Total sample data indicated a significant increase in heart rate (HR) during transition from a preferred to a non‐preferred task, but not during transition from one preferred task to another preferred task, or from a non‐preferred task to a preferred task. These data are suggestive of an effect due to the ‘preferedness’ of the task rather than just the change in task alone. Two subgroups of participants emerged, one which followed the ‘expected’ HR responsivity model to stress, and one which failed to follow that model. Conclusion Transition‐related distress may be confounded by preferredness of task when understanding transition stress in boys with ASD.