Frustration and anger regulation in children with autism spectrum disorder

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterized by impairments in social interaction, communication and difficulties regulating emotions. Emotion regulation is an important aspect of children’s emotional and social development. It maximizes learning and allows the development of trusting relationships. In the present study we aimed at studying how children with ASD regulate frustration and anger. Participants were 17 children diagnosed with ASD aged between 5 and 12 years old (14 boys and 3 girls) and their parents. Emotion regulation was assessed by parents’ reports of their child’s emotion regulation (Emotion Regulation Checklist, Shields & Cicchetti, 1998) and through the observation of children during the episode “Attractive toy placed behind a barrier”. The purpose of this episode was to elicit frustration and anger by placing a toy, with which the child had been playing, behind a barrier. Anger was coded as verbal and physical action against the barrier or persons present. Results revealed that children with more autistic symptoms were evaluated by their parents as having more difficulties regulating their emotions. Furthermore, parents’ evaluations of their child’s emotion regulation were positively correlated to the expression of anger during the frustration and anger regulation episode. However, no significant differences were observed in terms of autistic symptoms during the frustration and anger regulation episode. In conclusion, results show that children with more autistic symptoms are seen by their parents as having more difficulties regulating their emotions but do not show differences in terms of their emotion regulation during a frustration and anger eliciting episode.