This study involves mother-child dyads participating in a feeding experience in the laboratory setting. The laboratory environment will allow for a detailed multi-camera capture of the dyadic feeding experience while simultaneously collecting heart rate activity on the mother and child. A child with autism will be fed both a preferred and non-preferred food by their mothers. Physiological Arousal of this experience will be assessed through heart rate monitors.
We expect both the mother and child stress arousal to increase during mealtime experiences as evidenced by a decreased IBI, specifically under the condition of a non-preferred food presentation. The RSA is expected to decrease indicating a decrease in vagal activity reflecting a decrease in parasympathetic and unmodulated sympathetic activity. With both heart rate measures being influenced by the type and severity of feeding challenge. We expect these biomarker findings to support subjective mother reports from the literature suggesting an increase systemic stress response as well as increased anxiety in specific feeding scenarios. The identification of stress responses through biomarkers in the mother–child dyad will confirm that mothers of children with ASD having feeding disorders are at a high risk for mothering stress, emphasizing the importance of considering the mother and child’s underlying physiological state in addition to the observed feeding behaviors and responses.