Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Rochester. Department of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology, 2017.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is defined by social and communication deficits in the areas of social-emotional reciprocity, understanding and producing social cues, and developing close relationships. This study investigated differences in interpersonal coordination a possible explanation for social communication symptoms in ASD. Interpersonal coordination refers to the tendency for social partners to non-consciously align the form and timing of their behaviors. It is a well-established phenomenon in normative social interactions from early infancy, and has been shown to foster feelings of connectedness between social partners, enhance the ability to process and relate to social cues, and play an important role in social development. A small body of research has provided some evidence of atypical interpersonal coordination in ASD. Through a series of five aims, the current study comprehensively examined interpersonal coordination in high functioning children and adolescents with ASD, in comparison to well-matched typically developing peers. Interpersonal coordination was quantified while children participated in natural conversational tasks with their mothers and with unfamiliar adults, using measurements based on both human judgments and automated video analysis. This study also evaluated the extent to which engaging in interpersonal coordination was associated with interaction quality and other aspects of social functioning that are impaired in ASD. Broadly, results demonstrated that interpersonal coordination is reduced in children with ASD relative to their typically developing peers, across the modalities of conversational content, body movement, and facial affect. Results also showed significant associations between interpersonal coordination and social outcomes, including rapport with interaction partners, autism symptom severity, and several domains of everyday social functioning. This study is therefore suggestive of disruptions in this automatic, fundamental social process in children with ASD, which may account for social communication symptoms and difficulties with interpersonal relationships. Implications include a need for increased focus by researchers and clinicians on the social use of movement in ASD, within the context of dynamic social interactions.