Irritability as a Transdiagnostic Risk Factor for Functional Impairment in Autistic and Non-autistic Toddlers and Preschoolers

Trait irritability in toddlerhood is a powerful risk factor for later internalizing and externalizing challenges in non-autistic children, but the predictive clinical utility of irritability is unknown in autism. Irritability is a trait-level emotional response (i.e., frustration) to a blocked goal and is one source of disruptive behavior. Irritability has two facets: Frustration is the degree to which emotion is elevated after a blocked goal, while soothability is the rate of recovery from peak distress. We aimed to: (1) compare and describe the two facets of irritability in non-autistic and young autistic children, and (2) assess whether children’s reward sensitivity and executive function moderate the relation between irritability and clinical symptoms. Participants were 90 autistic (n=43) and non-autistic (n = 47) 2- and 4-year-olds. Autistic children did not have different levels of frustration but were more difficult to soothe compared to non-autistic children, according to parents. Further, frustration and soothability were less strongly correlated for autistic compared to non-autistic children. For all children, executive function (specifically, inhibition) moderated, or ameliorated the strength of, the relation between irritability (both soothability and frustration) and externalizing challenges. This study provides evidence for irritability as a transdiagnostic risk factor for clinically significant emotion regulation challenges. Further, the effect of trait irritability may be ameliorated by children’s executive function in a transdiagnostic manner. Future work should examine the unique aspects of soothability to how irritability presents within autism, as well as evaluate and modify emotion regulation interventions for autistic toddlers and preschoolers.