RISE POSTER + LATEST
Undergraduate Category: Health Sciences Degree Seeking: Bachelor in Health Sciences Abstract ID# 1655
Bio-Psychosocial Interdependence in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Parent-Child Synchrony Alberto Urbaneja
Northeastern Computational Behavioral Science Lab Opportunity
Approach
Abstract
Introduction
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a group of neurodevelopmental deficits, affecting around 1 in every 68 children in the US. Symptoms include difficulties with social reciprocity – such as issues interpreting social relationships, using and understanding nonverbal language, and issues perceiving their own or other’s emotions. Social reciprocity is difficult to study, as interactions are neither unidirectional nor mutually exclusive. Recent literature indicates physiological synchrony (PS) — interdependence between peoples’ physiological processes — is a potential method to assess social reciprocity in ASD. However, research with typically developing children is needed to assess whether children with ASD display different patterns of PS.
• Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is the fastest growing mental health condition in the world. • According to the theory of bio-behavioral synchrony, socio-emotional development is dependent on interpersonal synchrony. • A number of studies have found synchrony in dyads’ electrodermal activity (EDA) - a common psychophysiological measure of stress and emotional arousal. • Based on prior findings, we theorized that the EDA of parents and their typically developing children would synchronize during social interactions. • Results from this research could help inform PS studies involving children with ASD.
• Parents and their typically developing child (ages 2-5 years) volunteered for a study at Northeastern’s Computational Behavioral Science Lab. • Participants were fitted with physiological monitoring equipment, including wearable, wireless EDA wrist sensors. • In the first phase of the study, dyads were asked to play for 5-minutes while researchers monitored the interaction. • We used dynamical correlation, a functional data analysis designed to test synchrony in multivariate intensive longitudinal data, to assess whether the EDA of parent/child dyads was statistically significantly synchronized during this period.
Goal
Conclusion
The goal of this study is to assess PS between typically developing children and their parents during free play.
Results Dynamical correlation analysis was performed on 12 parent/child dyads. Results yielded a t-value of 1.36 and a non-significant p-value. This indicates that overall, the level of PS between parents and typically developing children was not statistically significantly greater than zero. 8
Electrodermal Activity
Impact
Example Dyad: Parent & Child’s EDA During 5-minutes of Free Play Parent
7
Child
6 5 4 3
• This is one of the first research studies to assess synchrony in the EDA of parents and their children during free play. • This area of research has potential to address some of the difficulties in studying social reciprocity in children with ASD. • Our methods have the potential to generate objective, quantitative metrics that can be used to asses and monitor social reciprocity in individuals with ASD.
References •
2
•
1 0
• Results indicate that synchrony was not significant in this condition. • Our analysis provides a summary score based on all dyads over the complete 5 minute period, but does not rule out the potential that synchrony occurred between some dyads at some points. • Significant levels of synchrony were found in these dyads in other study conditions, suggesting that synchrony changes over time. • Further research is needed to determine the nature of PS between typically developing children and their parents.
Time (5-minutes)
•
Feldman, R. (2012). Bio-behavioral synchrony: A model for integrating biological and microsocial behavioral processes in the study of parenting. Parenting: Science and Practice, 12, 154–164. Palumbo, R., Marraccini, M., Weyandt, L., Wilder-Smith, O., McGee, H., Liu, S., & Goodwin, M. (2016). Interpersonal Autonomic Physiology: A Systematic Review of the Literature. Personality And Social Psychology Review. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1088868316628405 Liu, S., Zhou, Y., Palumbo, R., & Wang, J. (2016). Dynamical correlation: A new method for quantifying synchrony with multivariate intensive longitudinal data. Psychological Methods, 21(3), 291-308. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/met0000071
Bio-Psychosocial Interdependence in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Parent-Child Synchrony Alberto Urbaneja
Northeastern Computational Behavioral Science Lab Opportunity
Approach
Abstract
Introduction
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a group of neurodevelopmental deficits, affecting around 1 in every 68 children in the US. Symptoms include difficulties with social reciprocity – such as issues interpreting social relationships, using and understanding nonverbal language, and issues perceiving their own or other’s emotions. Social reciprocity is difficult to study, as interactions are neither unidirectional nor mutually exclusive. Recent literature indicates physiological synchrony (PS) — interdependence between peoples’ physiological processes — is a potential method to assess social reciprocity in ASD. However, research with typically developing children is needed to assess whether children with ASD display different patterns of PS.
• Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is the fastest growing mental health condition in the world. • According to the theory of bio-behavioral synchrony, socio-emotional development is dependent on interpersonal synchrony. • A number of studies have found synchrony in dyads’ electrodermal activity (EDA) - a common psychophysiological measure of stress and emotional arousal. • Based on prior findings, we theorized that the EDA of parents and their typically developing children would synchronize during social interactions. • Results from this research could help inform PS studies involving children with ASD.
• Parents and their typically developing child (ages 2-5 years) volunteered for a study at Northeastern’s Computational Behavioral Science Lab. • Participants were fitted with physiological monitoring equipment, including wearable, wireless EDA wrist sensors. • In the first phase of the study, dyads were asked to play for 5-minutes while researchers monitored the interaction. • We used dynamical correlation, a functional data analysis designed to test synchrony in multivariate intensive longitudinal data, to assess whether the EDA of parent/child dyads was statistically significantly synchronized during this period.
Goal
Conclusion
The goal of this study is to assess PS between typically developing children and their parents during free play.
Results Dynamical correlation analysis was performed on 12 parent/child dyads. Results yielded a t-value of 1.36 and a non-significant p-value. This indicates that overall, the level of PS between parents and typically developing children was not statistically significantly greater than zero. 8
Electrodermal Activity
Impact
Example Dyad: Parent & Child’s EDA During 5-minutes of Free Play Parent
7
Child
6 5 4 3
• This is one of the first research studies to assess synchrony in the EDA of parents and their children during free play. • This area of research has potential to address some of the difficulties in studying social reciprocity in children with ASD. • Our methods have the potential to generate objective, quantitative metrics that can be used to asses and monitor social reciprocity in individuals with ASD.
References •
2
•
1 0
• Results indicate that synchrony was not significant in this condition. • Our analysis provides a summary score based on all dyads over the complete 5 minute period, but does not rule out the potential that synchrony occurred between some dyads at some points. • Significant levels of synchrony were found in these dyads in other study conditions, suggesting that synchrony changes over time. • Further research is needed to determine the nature of PS between typically developing children and their parents.
Time (5-minutes)
•
Feldman, R. (2012). Bio-behavioral synchrony: A model for integrating biological and microsocial behavioral processes in the study of parenting. Parenting: Science and Practice, 12, 154–164. Palumbo, R., Marraccini, M., Weyandt, L., Wilder-Smith, O., McGee, H., Liu, S., & Goodwin, M. (2016). Interpersonal Autonomic Physiology: A Systematic Review of the Literature. Personality And Social Psychology Review. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1088868316628405 Liu, S., Zhou, Y., Palumbo, R., & Wang, J. (2016). Dynamical correlation: A new method for quantifying synchrony with multivariate intensive longitudinal data. Psychological Methods, 21(3), 291-308. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/met0000071
