Autism & Self-regulation: Tele-Assessment of Autonomic Psychophysiological correlates (ASAP)

Medical University Of South Carolina, Charleston SC

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Abstract

The primary goal of Project ASAP (Autism & Self-regulation: identifying Autonomic Psychophysiological correlates) is to establish the feasibility of remote assessment across behavioral, neuropsychological, pathophysiological markers of self-regulation (i.e., executive functioning and emotion regulation) in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and disruptive behavior problems. A secondary focus of the study is to identify pathophysiological correlates of self-regulation in children with ASD. Participants will include 50 parent-child dyads of young children with ASD (ages 3-7) presenting with co-occurring disruptive behavior problems. Parents and children will complete remote self-regulation assessments including a battery of executive functioning and emotion regulation tasks and collection of heart rate variability data including Respiratory Sinus Arrythmia. The aims are to a) Establish acceptability and feasibility of remote assessment across behavioral, neuropsychological, pathophysiological markers of self-regulation, and b) Identify autonomic psychophysiological markers (heart rate variability, respiratory sinus arrythmia) as they relate to behavioral markers of executive functioning and emotion regulation in children and parents. An exploratory aim of the project is to examine whether self-regulation markers are associated with ASD symptom presentation and diagnostic comorbidities (e.g., ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder, developmental delay). The current study will produce foundational knowledge about remote assessment and psychophysiological markers of self-regulatory functioning in children with ASD during a sensitive developmental period (i.e., early childhood). This work will produce objective measures of important domains central to functioning of children with ASD. Findings from Project ASAP will help characterize the phenotypic variability in ASD and aid to advance toward therapeutic implications.