Anxiety and Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder By: Casey Briggs EDU 7202

Table of Contents Research Design Threats to Internal Validity Threats to External Validity Survey Questions Data Analysis Discussion References

Research Design Experimental Design: One shot case study design ABAB Design – to observe whether the behavior (anxiety) changes on introduction of the treatment (physical activities). Reverses when the treatment is withdrawn, and improves again when the treatment is re-introduced.

Threats to Internal Validity History – History can have an effect on autism research because the history of the disease shows how it originated and what approaches or theories were used. This can be a threat because of the different encounters that the participant may encounter on a daily basis. Maturation – The participant with autism can lose interest and their emotional and physical appearance can change over time. Testing/pre-test sensitization – If the participant knows that a test will be administered, it may affect their results. Caused by nervousness and anxiety. Selection Maturation Interaction – Participant with autism may mature slower than children without autism. Also, boys and girls mature at different ages.

Threats to External Validity Pre-test Treatment – Participant with autism will be likely to react differently to treatment if they have been pretested. Selection – Treatment Interaction – Participant with autism is not randomly selected or volunteer for treatment. Therefore this may be a possible threat. Multiple Treatment – Participant with autism receive several treatments to see which one works best. This will be done by administering several different instruments. Experimenter Effects – People who conduct research on autism can develop a bias because of they own work or experience with children who has autism. Reactive Arrangements/Participants Effects – Many factors can contribute to the attitudes of a participant with autism, such as their environment. For example autistic children do not like a strange or new environment and it can lead to an increase in anxiety. So, this can definitely be a threat to the research.

Survey Questions Demographics 1. Gender 1) Boy2)Girl 2. Number of Siblings 1) One 2)Two 3. Number of parents 1) One 2) Two 4. What is your age 1) Seven 2) Eight 5. What grade are you in 1) First 2) Second Self Attitude Rating Scale 1. Strongly Disagree 2. Disagree 3. Agree 4. Strongly Agree 1. Do you enjoy going to school? 2. Do you have any friends at school? 3. Do you enjoy recess? 4. Do you enjoy playing sports? 5. Do you like your teachers? 6. Is reading and writing your favorite subjects?

Survey Questions(Cont.) Frequencies 1) Not at all 2) Sometimes 3) Usually 4) Always 1. How often do you play with friends? 2. How often do you play alone? 3. Do you enjoy gym? 4. Do you participate in any extra-curricular activities, such as sports or karate? 5. How often do you watch television? 6. How often do you read and practice your writing?

Baseline (A) Intervention (B) Treatment Baseline (A) Treatment withdrawn Intervention (B) Treatment re- introduced

Event Recording Sheet DateOBS PeriodFrequency Behavior mins10 = mins10.5 = mins11 = mins11.5 = mins12.5 = mins13 = mins14 = mins15 = mins16 = mins15 = mins14 = mins13 = mins12.5 = mins11.5 = mins11 = mins10 = mins8 = mins6 = mins2.5 = mins50 = mins6.5 = mins7.5 = mins7.5 = mins10 = mins10 = mins12.5 = mins13.5 = mins17.5 = mins17.5 = mins16.5 = mins15.5 = mins14 = mins13 = mins10 = mins9 = mins8 = mins6 =.12 Mean = 9.52

Discussion Student was observed three times a week over a period of three months. The case study has shown that the student’s anxiety level was high if no physical activity was involved. However, he had a lower anxiety rate whenever he did any kind of physical activity, such as play sports, participate in gym classes running around at recess and karate classes.

References O’ Connor-Petruso, S. (2016). Descriptive Statistics Threats to Validity (PowerPoint slides). Retrieved from