Daytime secretion of salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase in preschool-aged children with autism and typically developing children.
Preschoolers with autism show jumpier daytime stress hormones, especially when IQ is lower.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Scientists compared daytime stress hormones in the preschoolers. Half had autism, half were typical.
They collected spit samples three times a day for five days. They tested cortisol and alpha-amylase.
What they found
Average levels looked the same across groups. But kids with autism had wilder day-to-day swings.
Lower IQ scores predicted higher cortisol and alpha-amylase in the autism group.
How this fits with other research
Lotito et al. (2025) extends these findings. They found sleep problems also link to higher cortisol in autistic kids .
Whaling et al. (2025) adds that autistic preschoolers miss sleep guidelines more often. Poor sleep plus variable stress hormones may stack up.
Slaughter et al. (2014) shows GI pain raises irritability. Like the IQ effect here, medical issues seem to amplify stress signals.
Why it matters
You can’t see stress swings with your eyes. Track medical pain, sleep logs, and cognitive level. When these flags pop up, plan shorter sessions, add sensory breaks, and teach calm-down routines. Saliva tests aren’t clinic-ready yet, but behavior is your real-time hormone meter.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
We examined daytime salivary cortisol and salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) secretion levels and variability in preschool-aged children with autism (AUT) and typically developing children (TYP). Fifty-two subjects (26 AUT and 26 TYP) were enrolled. Salivary samples were obtained at waking, midday, and bedtime on two consecutive days at three phases (baseline, 3 months later, 6 months later). There were modest increases in waking cortisol and sAA levels in AUT relative to TYP, but the increases were not statistically significant. Important differences were observed in cortisol and sAA variability between AUT and TYP. There was also a graded response among AUT by functional status--cortisol and sAA secretion levels were higher when IQ was lower.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2012 · doi:10.1007/s10803-012-1522-z