Anxiety is a cluster of responses that can involve both operant and respondent behavior, which can be both public and/or private in nature, and occurs when an upcoming aversive stimulus is signaled. Despite the reported high comorbidity of autism and anxiety, there has been very limited research on how to directly assess and treat anxiety, especially with individuals who have limited communication skills. In Study 1, anxiety was assessed in five individuals with autism, ranging in age from 10 to 19 years old. Anxiety was assessed by measuring behavior during (1) a baseline (with no putative anxiety-provoking stimuli present), (2) signals for an upcoming aversive event, and (3) exposure to that aversive event. Anxiety presented in several different ways, as both conditioned activation and suppression, and both with and without problem behavior during the aversive event. In Study 2, individualized treatments involving differential reinforcement of alternative responses and stimulus fading were used to successfully reduce anxious responding in all four participants who displayed anxiety. These studies demonstrated a potentially useful means of assessing anxiety in individuals with autism which may not only help to measure anxious behavior and identify anxiety-provoking events, but may also lead to effective treatment.

焦虑是一组反应，可能涉及操作行为和反应行为，本质上可以是公开的和/或私人的，并且在发出即将到来的厌恶刺激信号时发生。尽管据报道自闭症和焦虑症的合并症很高，但关于如何直接评估和治疗焦虑症的研究非常有限，尤其是对于沟通能力有限的人。在研究 1 中，对 5 名年龄在 10 到 19 岁之间的自闭症患者的焦虑进行了评估。通过测量以下期间的行为来评估焦虑：(1) 基线（不存在假定的引发焦虑的刺激），(2) 即将发生的厌恶事件的信号，以及 (3) 暴露于该厌恶事件。焦虑以几种不同的方式呈现，如条件激活和抑制，以及在厌恶事件期间有和没有问题行为。在研究 2 中，涉及不同反应强化和刺激消退的个性化治疗被用于成功减少所有四名表现出焦虑的参与者的焦虑反应。这些研究证明了一种评估自闭症患者焦虑的潜在有用方法，这不仅有助于衡量焦虑行为和识别引发焦虑的事件，而且还可能导致有效的治疗。