Table 3.
Definitions and frequencies of regulation strategies.
| Strategy | Definition | Non-ASD mean (SD) |
ASD mean (SD) |
t | d |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overfixation | Child becomes stuck and over-focused on an object during the task | 0.15 (0.37) | 4.71 (12.46) | −1.51 | 0.54 |
| Carrying miscellaneous object | Child brings another object into the activity because unable to separate from it | 2.25 (3.42) | 7.71 (10.31) | −2.09 | 0.74 |
| Approach toy/task | Reaching for toy/stimulus, walking toward it, leaning toward it | 16.50 (12.11) | 12.88 (9.25) | 1.01 | 0.33 |
| Distraction | Shifting attention away from stimuli to another toy/object | 4.95 (3.63) | 11.06 (6.72) | −3.51* | 1.16 |
| Avoidance | Attempting to escape or flee from the task/stimuli | 6.65 (4.52) | 8.00 (6.51) | −0.74 | 0.24 |
| Perceptual Disengagement | Gaze aversion or looking/turning away to disengage from task/stimuli | 0.95 (1.70) | 2.00 (2.72) | −1.38 | 0.47 |
| Freezing | Being paralyzed by fear or significant distress | 0.85 (1.63) | 1.12 (2.83) | −0.36 | 0.12 |
| Self-soothing | Any behavior providing oral and/or tactile input | 5.35 (11.59) | 4.24 (5.84) | 0.36 | 0.11 |
| Self-stimulatory behavior | Hand/arm flapping, rocking, other repetitive or jerky body movements, banging/tapping on table, rocking on chair, spinning | 0.15 (0.37) | 1.71 (2.62) | −2.43^ | 0.87 |
| Self-injurious behavior | Aggressive behavior directed towards their own body | 0.00 (0.00) | 0.06 (0.24) | −1.00 | 0.37 |
| Aggression directed toward others | An intentional act to hurt or direct emotional reaction in an aggressive manner towards another person | 0.05 (0.22) | 0.24 (0.56) | −1.28 | 0.46 |
| Aggression directed toward objects | An intentional act of directing an emotional reaction towards an object | 0.15 (0.67) | 1.06 (1.95) | −1.83 | 0.65 |
| Social engagement with caregiver | Actively looking, talking, and/or using gestures directed to the caregiver | 5.80 (5.21) | 4.35 (4.70) | 0.88 | 0.29 |
| Social engagement with research staff | Actively looking, talking, and/or using gestures directed to the examiner or research assistant | 23.95 (12.98) | 13.24 (11.70) | 2.62^ | 0.86 |
| Physical comfort seeking with caregiver | Seeking comfort from the caregiver | 10.45 (9.70) | 8.82 (11.38) | 0.47 | 0.16 |
| Physical comfort seeking with research staff | Seeking comfort from the examiner or research assistant | 0.55 (1.10) | 0.29 (0.77) | 0.81 | 0.27 |
| Requesting to caregiver | Asking the caregiver for help through vocalization or gestures | 2.60 (2.68) | 0.82 (1.88) | 2.36^ | 0.76 |
| Requesting to research staff | Asking the examiner or research assistant for help through vocalization or gestures | 3.30 (3.63) | 2.35 (3.69) | 0.79 | 0.26 |
| Undirected or self-directed vocalizations | Singing, talking, counting, or otherwise vocalizing to self | 7.80 (9.69) | 7.59 (5.98) | 0.08 | 0.03 |
Significant differences, p < .05, after correcting for multiple comparisons are noted by an asterisk (*). A carrot (^) indicates that p < .05, but the comparison was non-significant after the false discovery rate (FDR) correction. t-values and Cohen’s d are reported for each pairwise comparison.