RELATIONSHIP OF ANXIETY AND REPETITIVE BEHAVIORS AMONG AUTISTIC CHILDREN

Anxiety and Repetitive Behaviors among Autistic Children

Abstract

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder are vulnerable to anxiety. Repetitive behaviors are a core feature of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and have been associated anxiety. This study examined repetitive behaviors and anxiety in two groups of children with autism spectrum disorder, those with high anxiety and those with lower levels of anxiety.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the mean Repetitive Behavior score among Autistic Children with and without Anxiety.
METHODS: It was case control study. The data were collected from Hamza Montessori School for special children, Lahore. Study duration was 5 months. Purposive sampling was used to select only autistic children in study. The calculated sample size was 12 however due to the requirement of the minimum sample size, 30 subjects was taken each group. Data will be analyzed and evaluated with the help of the Statistical Package for social sciences (SPSS) version 20.0.
RESULTS: In findings, between anxious and non-anxious groups SCAS-P total and its subscale scores reported significantly different. Due to higher scores on a specific anxiety subtype it represented that the level of anxiety was not accounted. Only the p-value of repetitive behavior skills was significant in anxious
group.
CONCLUSIONS: Our study concluded that children with ASD there are differential relationship for repetitive behaviors in relation to anxious and non-anxious. Our information proposes analysts and clinicians ought to think about the part of tension when understanding and treating RRBs in youngsters with ASD.