Autism spectrum disorder affects about 1 in 31 children in the United States, and that number continues to grow.
Autistic youth experience the world in diverse ways, including differences in social communication, sensory experiences, and patterns of interests and behavior. Like all children, autistic children develop different ways of understanding, expressing and regulating their emotions.
For some autistic youth, navigating environments that are stressful, sensory-intensive, unpredictable or non-responsive to their needs can make emotion regulation more challenging.
Nebraska researchers are exploring ways to make emotion regulation practice more engaging, accessible and responsive to individual needs to promote autistic youths’ well-being, participation and quality of life.
Sungeun Kang, assistant professor, and Carrie Clark, associate professor and director of the Developmental and Learning Sciences program — both within the Department of Educational Psychology — are leading a pilot study to evaluate whether integrating music with relaxation activities, such as breathing exercises, may support emotional regulation and engagement among autistic children.
The project, “Breathing to the Beat,” is funded by a grant from the UNL Office of Research and Innovation. The study will include about a dozen children from Nebraska who will participate in breathing exercises paired with music.
We’re trying to bridge this rigorous experimental research with what we know clinically and from working in applied settings.”
— Carrie Clark, Co-principal investigator
During their visits to the Kang Autism Research Lab, their caregivers will also provide information about how their children use and respond to music in everyday life, including its role in emotion regulation.
“I experienced first-hand how many of these children were naturally drawn to music,” said Kang, whose previous clinical work included music therapy. “Music created opportunities for connection, engagement and self-expression. I’m excited to have the chance to formally study whether music can be incorporated into emotion regulation supports, and to better understand how it may help.”
Researchers will monitor each child using an Actiheart — a compact, chest-worn device that records physiological measures, including heart-rate variability. These data will be used to examine patterns of physiological regulation during the activities.
Researchers will also assess how well the approach works in practice and what they can learn to guide future studies. The findings could eventually help develop practical, engaging ways to support emotion regulation in autistic youth.
“We’re trying to bridge this rigorous experimental research with what we know clinically and from working in applied settings,” Clark said.
Findings will be used to develop and evaluate enhanced interventions that support emotional and physiological regulation in autistic youth.
Clark brings her expertise in neurophysiological data collection — and as a musician.
“I’m excited about being able to study the impacts of music on emotion regulation,” she said. “I like to play music at night to emotionally regulate myself all the time, so being able to do a study that integrates music and my physiological research is exciting.”
Learn more about this project in the CYFS Research Network.