Eye-tracking correlates of response to joint attention in preschool children with autism spectrum disorder

Ryan Anthony de Belen; Hannah Pincham; Antoinette Hodge; Natalie Silove; Arcot Sowmya; Tomasz Bednarz; Valsamma Eapen

doi:10.1186/s12888-023-04585-3

Eye-tracking correlates of response to joint attention in preschool children with autism spectrum disorder

BMC Psychiatry. 2023 Mar 29;23(1):211. doi: 10.1186/s12888-023-04585-3.

Authors

Ryan Anthony de Belen¹, Hannah Pincham², Antoinette Hodge³, Natalie Silove^{3

4}, Arcot Sowmya⁵, Tomasz Bednarz⁶, Valsamma Eapen^{2

7}

Affiliations

¹ School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. r.debelen@unsw.edu.au.
² School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
³ Children's Hospital Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
⁴ School of Medicine, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
⁵ School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
⁶ School of Art & Design, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
⁷ Academic Unit of Child Psychiatry South West Sydney, Ingham Institute, Liverpool Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Abstract

Background: A number of differences in joint attention behaviour between children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing (TD) individuals have previously been documented.

Method: We use eye-tracking technology to assess response to joint attention (RJA) behaviours in 77 children aged 31 to 73 months. We conducted a repeated-measures analysis of variance to identify differences between groups. In addition, we analysed correlations between eye-tracking and clinical measures using Spearman's correlation.

Results: The children diagnosed with ASD were less likely to follow gaze compared to TD children. Children with ASD were less accurate at gaze following when only eye gaze information was available, compared to when eye gaze with head movement was observed. Higher accuracy gaze-following profiles were associated with better early cognition and more adaptive behaviours in children with ASD. Less accurate gaze-following profiles were associated with more severe ASD symptomatology.

Conclusion: There are differences in RJA behaviours between ASD and TD preschool children. Several eye-tracking measures of RJA behaviours in preschool children were found to be associated with clinical measures for ASD diagnosis. This study also highlights the construct validity of using eye-tracking measures as potential biomarkers in the assessment and diagnosis of ASD in preschool children.

Keywords: Eye-tracking technology; Response to joint attention.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Attention / physiology
Autism Spectrum Disorder* / diagnosis
Child, Preschool
Eye-Tracking Technology
Fixation, Ocular
Humans
Social Behavior