Characterizing Daily-Life Social Interactions in Adolescents and Young Adults with Neurodevelopmental Disorders: A Comparison Between Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders and 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome

Abstract

Social impairments are common features of 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) allowed access to daily-life information in order to explore the phenomenology of social interactions. 32 individuals with 22q11DS, 26 individuals with ASD and 44 typically developing peers (TD) aged 12–30 were assessed during 6 days 8 times a day using a mobile app. Participants with 22q11DS and ASD did not spend more time alone but showed distinct implication in the social sphere than TD. Distinct profiles emerged between the two conditions regarding the subjective experience of aloneness and the subjective experience of social interactions. This study highlights distinct social functioning profiles in daily-life in 22q11DS and ASD that points towards different therapeutic targets.

Accessibility and feasibility of experience sampling methods for mental health research with people with intellectual disability: Scoping of research and stakeholder views

“…Discrepancies were solved through discussion. Sixteen studies were initially screened based on the full‐text, of which six studies fit the inclusion criteria (Feller et al, 2021, 2023; Hyde et al, 2021; Schneider et al, 2020; Wilson et al, 2020). The search was updated towards the end of the scoping review, which yielded one additional study that fit the criteria (Hulsmans et al, 2023).…”

“…The studies were published between 2015 and 2023. In four of the studies (Feller et al, 2021, 2023; Hyde et al, 2021; Schneider et al, 2020), people with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome were the target population and in three studies, the target population were people with mild intellectual disability (Wilson et al, 2020) or mild intellectual disability/borderline intellectual functioning (Gosens et al, 2023; Hulsmans et al, 2023). Sample sizes of the included studies ranged between 12 and 107 participants.…”

“…The authors (Feller et al, 2021) suggested that the high compliance in their study may be due to the guidance of the researchers during the study period. In four of the included studies (Feller et al, 2021, 2023; Hyde et al, 2021; Schneider et al, 2020), participants were excluded from the study because compliance was below 33%.…”

“…Compliance rates to the beeps were reported by five studies (Feller et al, 2021; Gosens et al, 2023; Hulsmans et al, 2023; Schneider et al, 2020; Wilson et al, 2020) and ranged between 34% (Wilson et al, 2020) and 71% (Gosens et al, 2023). Feller et al (2021, 2023) reported that the researchers sent personalised messages to the participants every other day to encourage them and to verify study compliance, and that the researchers were available for support throughout the experience sampling procedure. The authors (Feller et al, 2021) suggested that the high compliance in their study may be due to the guidance of the researchers during the study period.…”

Cognitive emotion regulation difficulties increase affective reactivity to daily-life stress in autistic adolescents and young adults

“…In the current study, youth with ASD spent less time than TD doing activities related to social contacts, which may suggest that they withdraw from stressful social interactions. However, they did not spend less time overall in the company of other people than TD youth, potentially suggesting that their interactions are less frequently "chosen", but occur more frequently in the family or school/work environment, without a specific purpose of interaction (Feller et al, 2022). Qualitative identification of the type of daily-life social interactions, events and activities that are perceived as stressful by youth with ASD could help us target interventions to reduce stress and the negative effects of stress, including social withdrawal.…”