Cognitive and Affective Predictors of Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors and Interests in Very Young Autistic Children.
In autistic toddlers, higher-order repetitive acts track with thinking level, while body-focused acts track with hyperactivity and discomfort.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team looked at 2- and young learners autistic children. They asked which child traits go with two kinds of repetitive behaviors.
They tested kids’ discomfort, hyperactivity, and thinking skills. Then they linked these scores to parent reports of repetitive behaviors.
What they found
Older toddlers and those with stronger thinking skills showed more “higher-order” behaviors like lining up toys or talking about the same topic.
Kids who were very active or upset showed more body-focused behaviors like hand flapping or rocking.
How this fits with other research
de Jonge et al. (2025) extends these findings. That study adds brain-wave data: kids with stronger frontal gamma power also have better language and daily-living skills. Together the papers show that early thinking skills predict both repetitive behaviors and later life skills.
Ohan et al. (2015) is a predecessor. That team followed toddlers to age 9 and found big jumps in IQ and language for half the kids. Nasim’s work gives a snapshot of why some kids look different at the start: their repetitive styles line up with their current comfort and thinking level.
Kaiser et al. (2022) looks at arousal. They found autistic kids sit in high “idle” arousal yet react weakly to new sights. Nasim’s link between discomfort and body-focused behaviors fits this picture: the kids may rock or flap to manage that steady inner buzz.
Why it matters
When you see a toddler lining up toys, check comfort and thinking age, not just the behavior. If the same child is always on the move or upset, teach calming first; the body-focused behaviors often drop when arousal falls. Use these quick clues to pick targets and show parents why one child needs movement breaks while another needs more play variety.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The development of distinct restricted and repetitive behaviors and interests (RRBIs) is well-studied in autism, but their relationship to cognitive and affective development in young autistic children is unknown. This cross-sectional study examined how higher-order RRBIs (e.g., circumscribed interests and insistence on sameness) and sensorimotor RRBIs (e.g., stereotyped movements and sensory preoccupations) relate to concurrent developmental level, executive function, temperament, and internalizing and externalizing behaviors in autistic toddlers and preschoolers. 143 2- and 4-year-old autistic children with developmental levels of at least 12 months completed a battery of executive function tasks, and caregivers completed interviews and questionnaires regarding their children's autistic features and affective functioning. Higher-order RRBIs, but not sensorimotor RRBIs, were related to age and developmental level. In the 2-year cohort, discomfort and executive function related to higher-order RRBIs, as well. Hyperactivity related to sensorimotor RRBIs in both cohorts, and discomfort also related to sensorimotor RRBIs in the 4-year-olds. These findings suggest that temperamental markers and features of mental health conditions may contribute to the expression of distinct RRBI subdomains. Child cognitive capacity may also underlie parental ability to report on RRBIs for young children. This study highlights the importance of distinguishing RRBI subdomains in young autistic children due to their distinct relationships to functioning and wellbeing.
Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2026 · doi:10.1002/aur.70175