(PS4-55) Parent and Observer Report on Emotion Expression in Autistic and Typically Developing Young Children

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by both restrictive, repetitive behaviors and challenges in social-emotional reciprocity. While emotion plays a significant factor in the presentation of autism, a clear consensus on measuring emotion expressivity in autistic young children, an act that would inform early intervention targets, has not yet been established. This study aims to investigate the relationship between parent report and trained researcher observation of emotion expression in both typically developing (TD) and autistic young children aged 2-5 years. Participants included 49 children (27 ASD, 22 TD) with a mean age of 42.14 months, who took part in a larger study investigating emotion expression through a multiple-modality approach. Parents were asked about their child's emotion expression through two different forms, a yes/no item on the demographics questionnaire and an item from the Emotion Dysregulation Inventory – Young Child (EDI-YC) regarding reduced emotion expressions rated from 0 to 4. A combined dichotomous parent score was created by integrating responses from these two measures questions regarding emotion expressivity into a single yes/no score of parental awareness of differences in their child's emotion expressivity. Trained observation of facial emotion expression occurred through coding of peak emotion intensity during the Laboratory Temperament Battery, a series of play-based tasks intended to elicit joy or frustration.  

Participants in the ASD group presented with an increased parent report EDI-YC item score on level of concern for reduced emotion expression (M=.67, SD=.832) in comparison to the TD participants (M=.05, SD=.213), t(30.12)=3.73, p< .001. There is a significant relationship between group and parent report combined score (x2 (1, N = 49) = 16.017, p < .001), meaning that p</span>arents in the ASD group were more likely to report differences in emotion expression than parents in the TD group. Average peak intensity of emotion (observer report) was significantly negatively correlated with the EDI-YC reduced emotion expression item (parent report) in the ASD group (r(21)= -.562, p</span>=.005). P</span>eak intensity of emotion was not significantly correlated with either combined parent report score or EDI-YC in the TD group (ps>.288). When considering valence of emotions, peak intensity of joy was significantly negatively correlated with EDI-YC item in the ASD group (r(21)= -.437, p=.037), while peak intensity of frustration was significantly correlated with EDI-YC scores in the TD group (r(19)= -.451, p=.040). Analysis indicates that agreement in parent report and trained observation may fluctuate depending on valence of emotion and group. A lack of variance in the TD group in relation to parent report of emotion expression differences may contribute to group differences. While limited in generalizability by sample size, this study highlights the need for multi-informant standards when assessing emotion expression in young children. Further research should examine emotional valence of sadness in addition to joy and frustration.