Neurotypical, but Not Autistic, Adults Might Experience Distress When Looking at Someone Avoiding Eye Contact: A Live Face-to-Face Paradigm

Autor/inn/en	Clin, Elise; Kissine, Mikhail
Titel	Neurotypical, but Not Autistic, Adults Might Experience Distress When Looking at Someone Avoiding Eye Contact: A Live Face-to-Face Paradigm
Quelle	In: Autism: The International Journal of Research and Practice, 27 (2023) 7, S.1949-1959 (11 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Clin, Elise) ORCID (Kissine, Mikhail)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1362-3613
DOI	10.1177/13623613221148553
Schlagwörter	Autism Spectrum Disorders; Stress Variables; Eye Movements; Arousal Patterns; Emotional Response; Measurement Equipment; Interpersonal Competence; Empathy; Anxiety + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Autism; Autismus; Augenbewegung; Emotionales Verhalten; Messinstrument; Interpersonale Kompetenz; Empathie; Angst
Abstract	Many autistics report being distressed by eye contact, but eye-tracking studies suggest that eye contact is associated with hypo-arousal rather than hyper-arousal in autism. Within a live face-to-face paradigm combining a wearable eye-tracker with electrodermal activity sensors, 80 adults (40 autistics) defined words in front of an experimenter either staring at their eyes (direct gaze condition) or looking elsewhere (averted gaze condition). Autistics did not differ from neurotypicals in their eye behaviours nor their skin conductance responses. Autistics did not appear distressed when they were looking at the experimenter's eyes in the direct gaze condition. However, neurotypicals, compared to autistics, might experience more stress when looking at the experimenter in the averted gaze condition, even after controlling for social anxiety and alexithymia. In comparison to autistics, neurotypicals might be hyper-aroused when they look at someone avoiding eye contact. Based on a bidirectional perspective on interactional difficulties in autism, we speculate that the neurotypicals' distress when their attempts to eye contact are not reciprocated could make their behaviour insistent, which, in turn, could make the autistics uncomfortable. In our study, participants' partner remained passive, displaying no specific reaction when a mutual gaze was shared or not. Future studies should test different partner reactions to gaze in various social contexts. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01