Affect and gaze responses during an Emotion-Evoking Task in infants at an increased likelihood for autism spectrum disorder

BACKGROUND: The majority of research examining emotional difficulties in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) prior to age 2 relies on parent report. METHODS: We examined behavioral responses (affect and gaze) during emotionally salient tasks designed to elicit mildly positive and negative emotional states in infants. At 12 and 18 months, infants at an increased likelihood for an ASD diagnosis (IL; have an older sibling with ASD; n = 60) and low likelihood (LL; no family history of ASD; n = 21) completed the Emotion-Evoking (EE) Task and parents completed the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised (IBQ-R). All children received an Autism Diagnostic Observation Scale—second Edition assessment for ASD symptomatology at 24 months. RESULTS: The main findings were (1) the IL group displayed higher rates of negative affect and spent less time looking at the task objects compared to the LL group, and (2) affect and gaze scores at 12 and 18 months, but not scores on the IBQ-R, predicted ASD symptoms at 24 months. LIMITATIONS: The data were drawn from an IL sample and may not be generalizable to the general ASD population, and the children were not followed to determine a diagnosis of ASD. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that behavioral responses can provide important information that complements parent reports of emotional regulation in IL infants as early as 12 months of age. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13229-021-00468-0.