Abstract
Deficits in emotional functioning are common in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), despite their exclusion as a core diagnostic symptom. There is a lack of understanding regarding specific emotion regulation (ER) functionality in children with ASD. ER involves appropriately managing emotions across situations, which may be more difficult for children with ASD who have more rigid behaviors. This inflexibility may lead to emotional responses that are not congruent with the typical goals and incentives of a situation, referred to as context inappropriate (CI) affect. Assessing CI fear and CI anger may provide insight on the ER difficulties associated with the anxious and aggressive behaviors often displayed by children with ASD. This study included five to nine year-old children with ASD (n = 33 met very likely ASD diagnostic criteria, n = 36 met probable ASD diagnostic criteria), and typically developing (TD) children (n = 16). Two forms of CI affect were assessed by parent report: CI anger (anger expressed during a positive situation or anger expressed during a threatening situation) and CI fear (fear expressed during a positive situation or fear expressed during a provoking situation). In this study, three factors of rigidity were assessed: restricted, repetitive behaviors (a core diagnostic feature of ASD), feeding selectivity (a common co-occurring behavior in children with ASD), and overall inflexibility/rigidity. Children with very likely ASD showed greater levels of CI anger and CI fear than children with probable ASD or TD children (Aim 1). CI anger was associated with aggression, however, this association was not stronger in children with ASD. As predicted, CI fear was associated with anxiety and this association was stronger in children with ASD (Aim 2). Finally, CI anger and CI fear were associated with higher levels of rigidity, and this association was stronger for children with ASD (Aim 3). Findings from this study contribute to the rather limited literature regarding ER abilities for children with ASD, which can potentially inform future interventions. Keywords: autism, children, emotion regulation, rigidity, restricted repetitive behaviors, feeding selectivity.