The relationship between autism symptoms and arousal level in toddlers with autism spectrum disorder, as measured by electrodermal activity

Abstract

Electrodermal activity was examined as a measure of physiological arousal within a naturalistic play context in 2-year-old toddlers ( N = 27) with and without autism spectrum disorder. Toddlers with autism spectrum disorder were found to have greater increases in skin conductance level than their typical peers in response to administered play activities. In the autism spectrum disorder group, a positive relationship was observed between restrictive and repetitive behaviors and skin conductance level increases in response to mechanical toys, whereas the opposite pattern was observed for passive toys. This preliminary study is the first to examine electrodermal activity levels in toddlers with autism spectrum disorder during play-based, naturalistic settings, and it highlights the potential for electrodermal activity as a measure of individual variability within autism spectrum disorder and early development.

Keywords: ASD; electrodermal activity; galvanic skin response; language; naturalistic environment; play; skin conductance; toddlers.

Figure 1

Bars indicate group means of change in EDA during presentation of five different toy conditions. Error bars indicate ±1SE. The ASD group exhibited larger changes in EDA than did the TD group, for all toy and activity conditions, indicating greater affective arousal.