Brief Report: Social Skills, Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms, and Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia in Autism
Abstract
Theoretical and empirical models describe respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) as a peripheral biomarker of emotion regulation and social competence. Recent findings also link RSA to individual differences in social functioning within autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, associations between RSA and symptoms of internalizing/externalizing psychopathology in ASD have not been explored. We assessed RSA, social functioning, and internalizing/externalizing symptoms among boys with and without ASD. Compared with controls, participants with ASD evidenced reduced parasympathetic cardiac control, which correlated with social behavior. Symptoms were associated with deficiencies in RSA, over-and-above the contribution of social functioning. These findings yield a more nuanced understanding of parasympathetic function in ASD, and suggest a role for integrative intervention strategies that address socioemotional difficulties.
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Our study differed from previous studies in the baseline task used, suggesting that task conditions may play a role in measurement of baseline autonomic nervous system arousal.
“For example, our study was different than [11,12,14] in the baseline task used (such as movie watching versus sitting quietly), suggesting that task conditions may play a role in measurement of baseline ANS arousal.”
From Functional autonomic nervous system profile in children with autism spectrum disorder (2014) · cites this paper as [14]
Literature findings on respiratory sinus arrhythmia in autism spectrum disorder are divergent, with some studies reporting significantly reduced respiratory sinus arrhythmia and others finding no atypicalities.
“Literature findings on this issue are divergent, with a number of studies reporting significantly reduced RSA [11-14], and others finding no atypicalities [47,62].”
From Functional autonomic nervous system profile in children with autism spectrum disorder (2014) · cites this paper as [14]
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- Authors
- Neuhaus, E., Bernier, R., & Beauchaine, T. P.
- Affiliations
- University of Washington (US)
- The Ohio State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Neuhaus, Emily
- Venue
- Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
- Published
- 2013-08-28
- Volume
- 44
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 730-737
- ISSN
- 0162-3257 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-3432
- OpenAlex
- W2119614961
- Cited by
- 119
- References
- 9
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 6
- FWCI
- 4.19
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic Control
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Keywords
- respiratory sinus arrhythmia, autism spectrum disorder, social skills, internalizing problems, externalizing problems, emotion regulation, social competence, boys, social-emotional problems
- MeSH terms
- Arrhythmia, Sinus, Autistic Disorder, Child, Humans, Male, Social Behavior, Case-Control Studies
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