Identifying and Validating Indices of Happiness and Unhappiness in Autistic Children and Examining Them as Quality of Life Indicators During Presession Pairing

IF 1.3 Q3 EDUCATION, SPECIAL

Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disorders Pub Date : 2023-08-22 DOI:10.1007/s41252-023-00352-3

Tuhina Agarwal, Devon Ramey

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objectives

Happiness is paramount to an improved quality of life (QoL), but there are barriers to assessing the happiness and overall QoL of autistic children using traditional measures. To address this, Study 1 aimed to identify and validate the idiosyncratic mood indices of three autistic children. In Study 2, these indices were measured as QoL indicators during discrete trial teaching (DTT) sessions that followed presession pairing. Task engagement was recorded as a secondary measure.

Methods

Three preschool boys on the autism spectrum participated in both studies. Their individualized indices of happiness and unhappiness were first identified and validated using an abbreviated procedure that extended previous research. The effects of presession pairing were then examined using a concurrent multiple baseline design across participants. The idiosyncratic mood indices were measured using 10-s partial interval recording, while task engagement was measured using 15-s whole interval recording.

Results

Study 1 demonstrated that the abbreviated procedure was efficient for identifying and validating the idiosyncratic mood indices of the participants. Study 2 found that presession pairing improved the mood of all three children during DTT, but there were minimal increases in task engagement. Percentage of nonoverlapping data (PND) scores initially revealed no effects for indices of happiness (M = 43.2%), large effects for indices of unhappiness (M = 76.4%), and no effects for task engagement (M = 37.6%). Contrary to this, omnibus Tau-U scores suggested large effects for indices of happiness (Tau-U = 0.7), very large effects for indices of unhappiness (Tau-U = 0.9), and moderate effects for task engagement (Tau-U = 0.5).

Conclusions

Individualized indices of happiness and unhappiness can and should be used as QoL indicators during behavioral interventions for autistic children.

查看原文本刊更多论文

识别和验证自闭症儿童的快乐和不快乐指数，并在会前配对中将其作为生活质量指标进行研究

目的快乐对于提高生活质量（QoL）至关重要，但使用传统方法评估自闭症儿童的快乐和整体 QoL 存在障碍。为解决这一问题，研究 1 旨在确定和验证三名自闭症儿童的特异情绪指数。在研究 2 中，这些指数作为 QoL 指标，在进行会前配对的离散试验教学（DTT）过程中进行测量。方法三名学龄前自闭症男孩参与了这两项研究。首先，采用一种扩展了先前研究的简短程序，确定并验证了他们个性化的快乐和不快乐指数。然后，采用并发多基线设计，对参与者进行会前配对的效果检测。特异性情绪指数通过 10 秒钟的部分时间间隔记录进行测量，而任务参与度则通过 15 秒钟的整体时间间隔记录进行测量。结果研究 1 表明，简短程序能有效识别和验证参与者的特异性情绪指数。研究 2 发现，在进行 DTT 时，会前配对会改善所有三名儿童的情绪，但任务参与度的提高却微乎其微。不重叠数据百分比（PND）得分最初显示对快乐指数没有影响（M = 43.2%），对不快乐指数有很大影响（M = 76.4%），对任务投入度没有影响（M = 37.6%）。与此相反，综合 Tau-U 分数表明，快乐指数的影响较大（Tau-U = 0.7），不快乐指数的影响非常大（Tau-U = 0.9），任务参与的影响适中（Tau-U = 0.5）。

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来源期刊

Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disorders Social Sciences-Social Sciences (miscellaneous)

CiteScore

2.10

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disorders publishes high-quality research in the broad area of neurodevelopmental disorders across the lifespan. Study participants may include individuals with:Intellectual and developmental disabilitiesGlobal developmental delayCommunication disordersLanguage disordersSpeech sound disordersChildhood-onset fluency disorders (e.g., stuttering)Social (e.g., pragmatic) communication disordersUnspecified communication disordersAutism spectrum disorder (ASD)Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), specified and unspecifiedSpecific learning disordersMotor disordersDevelopmental coordination disordersStereotypic movement disorderTic disorders, specified and unspecifiedOther neurodevelopmental disorders, specified and unspecifiedPapers may also include studies of participants with neurodegenerative disorders that lead to a decline in intellectual functioning, including Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal dementia, corticobasal degeneration, Huntington’s disease, and progressive supranuclear palsy. The journal includes empirical, theoretical and review papers on a large variety of issues, populations, and domains, including but not limited to: diagnosis; incidence and prevalence; and educational, pharmacological, behavioral and cognitive behavioral, mindfulness, and psychosocial interventions across the life span. Animal models of basic research that inform the understanding and treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders are also welcomed. The journal is multidisciplinary and multi-theoretical, and encourages research from multiple specialties in the social sciences using quantitative and mixed-method research methodologies.