Longitudinal study of personal space in autism

ABSTRACT

The size and regulation of personal space are reportedly atypical in autistic individuals. As personal space regulates social interaction, its developmental change is essential for understanding the nature of social difficulties that autistic individuals face. Adolescence is an important developmental period in which social relationships become complex. We conducted a three-year longitudinal study of interpersonal distances in autistic and typically developing (TD) individuals aged 12–18 years at Time 1 and 15–21 years at Time 2. Their preferred interpersonal distances were measured when an experimenter approached the participants with and without eye contact. The interpersonal distances of autistic individuals were shorter than those of TD individuals at both Time 1 and Time 2. Furthermore, the interpersonal distances of autistic individuals at Time 1 and Time 2 were highly correlated, but no such correlation was found in TD individuals. The results suggest that the interpersonal distances of autistic individuals are stable and that the shorter preferred interpersonal distances in autistic individuals compared to those of TD individuals are maintained during adolescence.

KEYWORDS:

• Autism spectrum disorder
• personal space
• interpersonal distance
• longitudinal study
• communication

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to all participants, their families, and the teachers of Musashino Higashi Gakuen. In addition, we thank the staff of the Komaba research team for their help with data collection.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) JP19K03236 and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) JP24119006.