Preliminary Evidence for Associations Between Emotion Dysregulation and Therapy Participation in Young Autistic Children.

purposeParticipation in early intervention (EI) is associated with improved outcomes for autistic children (Berg et al. in 2024, J Autism Dev Disord, 5:3520–3529). Although emotion dysregulation (ED) is a common challenge in this population, it is rarely a primary target in EI, and the relationship between EI and ED is still unclear.

methodsUsing data from a large (n = 853) online sample of parents of autistic children, the present study aims to describe therapy participation and history within the sample and to examine associations between therapy history and ED.

resultsSpeech therapy was the most common intervention, with occupational therapy and behavioral therapy as second and third most common. A number of associations were found between therapy utilization and ED, even when controlling for other factors known to contribute to ED. Specifically, participation in a greater number of types of therapies was associated with higher ED scores, while participation in specific therapies—particularly speech, behavioral, and occupational therapy—was linked to lower ED scores. DISCUSSION: While we cannot determine directionality or causality in these relationships, our findings support the need for more research to understand how ED impacts and/or is impacted by common EI services.