Journal of Undergraduate Research
Keywords
negative evaluation, Autism, spectrum disorders, ASD
College
Family, Home, and Social Sciences
Department
Psychology
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized by social communication deficits and restricted repetitive behaviors. Studies have found co‐morbidity of ASD and social anxiety disorder (SAD), but it is unclear how the anxiety experienced in ASD is socially mediated (White, Oswald, Ollendick and Scahill; 2009). In this study, we measured psychophysiological reactivity during socially stressful (performance‐evaluated) trials compared to unevaluated trials. We aimed to understand how anxiety in people with ASD is mediated by fear of negative social evaluation, a key factor in SAD. We hypothesized that the ASD group would show elevated stress during evaluation, whether the task was hard or easy, while the control group (CON) would be affected by evaluation only during difficult trials.
Recommended Citation
Nielson, Catie and South, Mikle
(2015)
"Fear of Negative Evaluation in Autism Spectrum Disorders,"
Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2015:
Iss.
1, Article 47.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2015/iss1/47