An exploratory study on emotion regulation strategy use in individuals with Williams syndrome, autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability

Abstract

BackgroundIndividuals with neurodevelopmental disorders often have atypical emotion profiles, but little is known about how they regulate their emotions. While several studies have examined emotion regulation strategy use in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), only a few have included individuals with intellectual disability (ID) or focused on specific syndromes such as Williams syndrome (WS).MethodsA parent-reported survey launched during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic allowed to exploratorily study emotion regulation strategy use and its link to anxiety in individuals with ASD with (N=785) and without ID (N=596), WS (N=261), and Intellectual Disability not otherwise specified (N=649).ResultsUsing multilevel analyses, besides revealing specific group differences in emotion regulation strategy use, a variety of strategies (e.g., rumination, avoiding information, repetitive behaviors) were found to be linked to elevated levels of anxiety, while focusing on the positive was linked to lower anxiety levels in all groups. Moreover, only autistic people without ID used humor more frequently while experiencing lower anxiety levels.ConclusionThis study sheds light on an underexplored area of emotion regulation strategy use in different neurodevelopmental disorders. It also paves the way to further examine emotion regulation in more rigorous ways to better understand emotion regulation in different neurodevelopmental disorders as well as the impact on outcome measures such as anxiety. This exploratory study may help to develop and validate adequate measures to study a broad array of ER strategies used by individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders.

Efficacy of coping mechanisms used during COVID-19 as reported by parents of children with autism

“…children with ASD with and without intellectual disability [45]. While this study revealed a significant difference between the two groups in focusing on the positive, neither group utilized this strategy very frequently.…”

“…In addition, we also explored age related differences in the use and effectiveness of specific coping strategies among children with ASD. To our knowledge, this is an area that has been explored in only a few studies of individuals with ASD to date [ 22 , 30 , 45 ]. Finally, we conducted exploratory correlational analyses to evaluate the extent to which ratings of frequency and perceived efficacy for each coping strategies are related, an area which has not yet been studied in individuals with ASD.…”

“…These participants have more situational understanding of their surroundings, and therefore may be more able to utilize cognitive coping strategies. We are further encouraged by the findings of a recent publication which compared the coping strategy use among children with ASD with and without intellectual disability [ 45 ]. While this study revealed a significant difference between the two groups in focusing on the positive , neither group utilized this strategy very frequently.…”

“…Sharing/talking about COVID-19 and distraction may be considered as either adaptive or maladaptive strategies depending on the context, as they may serve as “attentional deployment” or “attention-diverting” strategies [ 14 , 15 , 44 ]. To be consistent with other studies in this are [ 14 , 45 ], we considered them to be adaptive strategies. Two additional strategies were related to parents or caregivers to regulate their child’s emotion ( Table 2 ).…”

Anxiety, concerns and emotion regulation in individuals with Williams syndrome and Down syndrome during the COVID-19 outbreak: a global study

“…All items were rated again on a 5-point Likert Scale; for frequency: 1 (very rarely) to 5 (very frequently); and for efficacy: 1 (not efficient) to 5 (very efficient). In total there were 14 items, which focused on maladaptive and adaptive ER strategies and cognitive and behavioural strategies to capture the relative strengths of each group (see 61 for examination of ER strategies use during COVID-19 for a range of neurodevelopmental populations including individuals with WS, but not for DS. Similarly that study did not examine efficacy of ER strategies which the present study furtherly explores).…”