Abstract：
Narrative is an important communication skill for sharing personal experiences and connecting with others. Narrative skills are often impacted in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and have important consequences for social interactions and relationships. Subtle differences in narrative have also been reported among first-degree relatives of autistic individuals, suggesting that narrative may also be an etiologically important language-related skill that is influenced by genes associated with ASD. This study examined narrative ability and related visual attention during narration in ASD and first-degree relatives of individuals with ASD (siblings and parents) to understand how narrative and related attentional styles may be variably impacted across the spectrum of ASD genetic influence. Participants included 56 autistic individuals, 42 siblings of autistic individuals, 49 controls, 161 parents of autistic individuals, and 61 parent controls. Narratives were elicited using a wordless picture book presented on an eye tracker to record concurrent gaze. Findings revealed parallel patterns of narrative differences among ASD and sibling groups in the use of causal language to connect story elements and the use of cognitive and affective language. More subtle differences within the domain of causal language were evident in ASD parents. Parallel patterns in the ASD and sibling groups were also found for gaze during narration. Findings implicate causal language as a critical narrative skill that is impacted in ASD and may be reflective of ASD genetic influence in relatives. Gaze patterns during narration suggest similar attentional mechanisms associated with narrative among ASD families.
摘要：
叙事是分享个人经验和与他人联系的重要沟通技巧。叙事技能通常会影响自闭症谱系障碍（ASD），并对社交互动和人际关系产生重要影响。据报道，自闭症患者的一级亲属在叙述上也存在微妙的差异，这表明叙事也可能是一种病因学上重要的语言相关技能，受到与ASD相关的基因的影响。这项研究检查了ASD和患有ASD的个体（兄弟姐妹和父母）的一级亲属在叙事过程中的叙事能力和相关的视觉注意力，以了解叙事和相关的注意风格如何在ASD遗传影响的范围内受到不同的影响。参与者包括56名自闭症患者，42个自闭症患者的兄弟姐妹，49个控件，161名自闭症患者的父母，和61个父控件。使用眼球追踪器上呈现的无字图画书来记录同时的凝视，从而引起叙述。研究结果揭示了ASD和兄弟姐妹群体在使用因果语言连接故事元素以及使用认知和情感语言方面的叙事差异的平行模式。在ASD父母中，因果语言领域内存在更细微的差异。在叙述过程中，还发现了ASD和兄弟姐妹群体中的平行模式。研究结果表明，因果语言是一种关键的叙事技能，在ASD中受到影响，并且可能反映了亲属的ASD遗传影响。叙事过程中的凝视模式表明，ASD家庭中与叙事相关的注意机制相似。
