Course of Face-to-face Interactions in Adults With Autism

UMC Utrecht

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Neurotypical; Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Treatments: Behavioral: Conversation

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06925308

559902

Details and patient eligibility

About

This research explores how adults with autism make eye contact during formal and informal interactions; to what extent the nature of a conversation influences how eye contact is made in terms of length, frequency and overall presentation. Also what physiological responses to eye contact are, in order to determine to what extent eye contact leads to an increased, decreased or unchanged stress level. In addition, to gain insight into the similarities and differences in how people with ASD respond to eye contact of others compared to their own eye contact.

Full description

This research explores how adults with autism make eye contact during formal and informal interactions; to what extent the nature of a conversation influences how eye contact is made in terms of length, frequency and overall presentation. Also what physiological responses to eye contact are, in order to determine to what extent eye contact leads to an increased, decreased or unchanged stress level. In addition, to gain insight into the similarities and differences in how people with ASD respond to eye contact of others compared to their own eye contact.

The research design chosen is an exploratory mixed methods study, which was developed in co-design with an expert by experience. The design consists of two parts. In the first part, the researcher will have a conversation (with a formal and informal phase, in which the subject will be given the idea that only the formal part is part of the research) with an adult with ASD, during which hidden recordings of the subject's eye behavior will be made, and in addition, skin conductance and duration/frequency of the subject's eye contact will be recorded, without the subject knowing that this is intended for research into eye contact. In the second part, the researcher and subject watch the hidden recording of the subject's eye behavior, during which the subject's skin conductance will be recorded and special features of the subject, as seen by the researcher. Both the arrangement of the subjects and researcher, as well as the physiological measurements, will be tested in advance.

Enrollment: 54 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 65 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria

• Neurotypical adults and adults with an ASD, determined according to an internationally recognized classification system.
• Able to understand the instructions.
• Motivation to participate in research.

Exclusion criteria

• No good command of the Dutch language.
• Use of alcohol and/or recreational drugs during the research.
• Mentally too unstable to participate in the research.
• Familiarity with treatment in the VGZ.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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54 participants in 1 patient group

Social interaction

Experimental group

Description:

Received intervention is a social interaction on which is reflected afterwards, in adults with and without autism, living in The Netherlands.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Conversation