The influence of parents in children’s emotion regulation.

Poster (2015, September)

Coping with cyberbullying in adolescent population

Scientific Conference (2015, May 22)

Emotion regulation and depression in parents of children with ASD

Poster (2015, May)

Emotion Regulation and Anger Expression in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Scientific Conference (2014, November)

Emotion regulation (ER) is an important aspect of children’s emotional and social development. It maximizes learning and allows the development of trusting relationships. ER is particularly relevant for ... [more ▼]

Emotion regulation (ER) is an important aspect of children’s emotional and social development. It maximizes learning and allows the development of trusting relationships. ER is particularly relevant for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Children with ASD have frequent behavioural disturbances that are believed to derive from low ER capacities. The main purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between ER and anger expression in children with ASD compared to typically developing (TD) children. Participants were 29 children aged from 5 to 12 years old. 8 children were diagnosed with ASD accompanied by intellectual and language impairments, 9 children were diagnosed with ASD without intellectual or language impairments, and 12 were TD children. ER was assessed by parents’ reports of their child’s ER and anger expression by the observation of children during a frustration-eliciting situation. Analyses of variance revealed that children with ASD were evaluated by their parents as having lower ER than TD children and, that children with ASD demonstrated more anger-related behaviours than TD children. However, no differences were found between the two groups of children with ASD for ER or anger expression. This shows that intellectual or language impairments in ASD are not key-factors on how parents perceive their children’s ER or on how they express anger. Moreover, a negative correlation was found between ER and expressed anger. These results stress the necessity of developing interventions for teaching adequate ER strategies to children with ASD. [less ▲]

Effects of Autistic Traits on Emotion Regulation in Neurotypical Adults

Poster (2014, May)

Background: Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) seem to have lower emotion regulation competence (Samson, Huber, & Gross, 2012). It has been reported that ASD is a continuum of social ... [more ▼]

Background: Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) seem to have lower emotion regulation competence (Samson, Huber, & Gross, 2012). It has been reported that ASD is a continuum of social-communication disability (Baron-Cohen, Wheelwright, Skinner, Martin, & Clubley, 2001) and that neurotypical individuals are also part of that continuum and have autistic traits. Therefore, neurotypical individuals with more autistic traits would be expected to have lower emotion regulation competence than those with less autistic traits. Additionally, low levels of resting heart rate variability (HRV) have been associated with poor social functioning and emotional rigidity (Butler, Wilhelm, & Gross, 2006), which characterize ASD. Consequently, it is hypothesized that neurotypical individuals with more autistic traits should also have lower resting HRV. Objectives: To analyse if neurotypical adults with more autistic traits use less efficient emotion regulation strategies and the relation to cardiac vagal control. Methods: 80 undergraduate students participated in the study. None of the participants had a diagnosis of ASD. Participants were requested to answer four questionnaires: the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ; Baron-Cohen et al., 2001), which comprises 50 items and assesses 5 autistic traits in the general population; the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS; Gratz & Roemer, 2004), which comprises 36 items and assesses 6 factors of emotional dysregulation; the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ; Gross & John, 2003), which comprises 10 items and assesses 2 emotion regulation strategies, cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression; and finally, the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20; Bagby, Parker, & Taylor, 1994), which comprises 20 items and assesses 3 factors of alexithymia. In the end, participants’ HRV was measured for 5 minutes. Results: Data collection is still being carried out and therefore definite results cannot be drawn. However, preliminary results seem to indicate that participants who have more autistic traits have in general more difficulties regulating their emotions. They use more often suppression than reappraisal as emotion regulation strategy and demonstrate more difficulties in two factors of the DERS (“Lack of emotional awareness” and “Lack of emotional clarity”). Results also seem to indicate that those with more autistic traits have a higher score in alexithymia. Concerning HRV, preliminary results indicate that those with more autistic traits have higher resting HRV. Conclusions: Preliminary results indicate that, neurotypical individuals who have more autistic traits have a less adaptive emotion regulation profile compared to neurotypical individuals with less autistic traits. They use more frequently expressive suppression and less frequently cognitive reappraisal and have more difficulties understanding and being aware of their emotions. This could be explained by the fact that, similarly to individuals with ASD, neurotypical individuals with more autistic traits have more difficulties taking another person mental perspective. This is also supported by findings that those with more autistic traits have a higher score in alexithymia, showing that they have more difficulties identifying and describing emotions. The unexpected HRV result might be explained by differences in the pattern of physiological responding (Zahn, Rumsey, & Kammen, 1987). [less ▲]

Autistic traits and emotion regulation

Poster (2013, September)

Introduction: Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) seem to have lower emotion regulation competence than typically developing individuals; they use more frequently suppression than reappraisal ... [more ▼]

Introduction: Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) seem to have lower emotion regulation competence than typically developing individuals; they use more frequently suppression than reappraisal (Samson, Huber, & Gross, 2012). Additionally, low levels of resting heart rate variability (HRV) have been associated with poor social functioning and emotional rigidity (Butler, Wilhelm, & Gross, 2006), which characterize individuals with ASD. Therefore, it is hypothesized that typically developing individuals with more autistic traits use more frequently suppression instead of reappraisal and have lower resting HRV. Methodology: 66 students (age: M=21.73, SD=2.49) participated in the study. Firstly, participants resting HRV was measured for 5 minutes. Afterwards, participants watched 5 videos of one minute long each (Gross & Levenson, 1995). Two videos were used to elicit disgust and three were neutral. After each video, participants completed a questionnaire about the emotions felt during the video (Ekman, Friesen, & Ancoli, 1980; adapted by Gross & Levenson, 1993). Finally, participants completed the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ; Baron-Cohen et al., 2001), and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ; Gross & John, 2003). Results: Participants who used more frequently suppression had more autistic traits (M=20.13, SD=4.73) than those who used more frequently reappraisal (M=15.06, SD=4.50; t(64)=3.80, p<.001). Furthermore, the more autistic traits participants had, the more they rated their emotions during the disgust-eliciting videos as pleasant (r(57)=.295, p<.05), and the more they reported feeling positive emotions (r(63)=.262, p<.05). However, no correlation was found regarding negative emotions. Concerning resting HRV participants with more autistic traits had higher HRV (r(47)=.29, p<.05). Conclusions: Similarly to individuals with ASD, typically developing individuals with more autistic traits used more frequently suppression, demonstrating less emotion regulation competence. The reported higher rates of pleasantness during the disgust-eliciting videos and the overall experience of more positive emotions can be interpreted as a lack of cognitive empathy (Baron-Cohen & Wheelwright, 2004). The unexpected resting HRV result might be explained by differences in the pattern of physiological responding (Zahn, Rumsey, & Kammen, 1987). [less ▲]

The role of alexithymia in emotional reactivity and regulation in children with autism spectrum disorder

in Autism Research (n.d.)