Parent descriptions of the presentation and management of anxiousness in children on the autism spectrum.
Autistic kids show different anxiety behaviors in each setting—mostly body cues, not worry words—so collect parent, teacher, and direct observation data before you treat.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team asked parents to describe how their autistic children act when they feel anxious.
Parents answered open questions about home, school, and community settings.
No tests or treatments were given; the goal was to map what anxiety looks like in daily life.
What they found
Parents said anxious signs change with the place.
At home they saw shutdowns, pacing, or more stimming.
In public they noticed louder noises, running off, or freezing.
Parents rarely heard their kids say "I am worried"; they saw bodies, not words.
How this fits with other research
Greene et al. (2019) asked teachers the same question the same year. Teachers also caught anxiety in about half the students, but they spotted more worry talk and less shutdown. Together the two studies show: who watches and where you watch shapes the score.
Cramm et al. (2009) warned that parents and teachers often disagree on psychiatric symptoms. Adams et al. (2019) now add that the gap is not error—it is real setting-driven variation.
Rojahn et al. (2012) found that insistence on sameness links to anxiety only in already anxious kids, while sensory repetitions may flag new anxiety. Parents in Dawn’s study named both types of behaviors, matching those earlier patterns.
Why it matters
If you only screen at clinic or only ask teachers, you will miss home-only signs like extra stimming or shutdown. Use parent words plus teacher words plus your own eyes. Write separate plans for separate places: allow quiet corners at home, pre-teach exit routes for stores, and watch for sudden stillness as much as for worry talk.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The complex interaction between anxiety and autism has led to debate about the presentation of anxiety in individuals on the spectrum and questions about the extent to which traditional checklists assess the entire range of symptomatology. Moreover, studies to date have not explored how the presentation of anxiety may differ between settings. Through a combination of open-ended questions, closed questions and standardised measures, parents of 173 children (aged 6-13) on the autism spectrum provided (1) descriptors of their child's anxiety at home, school and in the community and (2) strategies used to reduce their child's anxiety in each setting. Over half (52.6%) felt their child was anxious at home, 77.6% at school and 76.2% in the community. Parents reported differing presentations of anxiety between settings, with the majority of descriptions relating to observable, behavioural changes (e.g. hides/shuts down, repetitive behaviours) rather than cognitive or physiological signs. Parents also reported using different strategies across settings. The use of open-ended questions allowed the identification of signs of anxiety not explored within traditional questionnaires and highlighted the potential for signs to vary across settings. This knowledge is critical to inform the development or adaptations of anxiety measures and interventions.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2019 · doi:10.1177/1362361318794031