The Role of Social Anxiety and Screen Time Exposure as Barriers to Functional Communication in Autistic Children: A Quantitative study from the Parental Perspective in Peshawar

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17577572

Abstract

This study investigates parental perspective regarding the role of social anxiety and screen time exposure as barriers to functional communication in Autistic children. A total of 64 samples were recruited from prestigious institutes in Peshawar, including Autism unit, Department of Psychology (UOP), Ayla Bells, Peshawar, Bridges Autism Center Peshawar, Franklin Autism Center and Franklin Inclusive School Peshawar, and the Autism Jewel. The conceptual framework included independent variables as screen time exposure, social anxiety, and dependent variable as functional communication. The demographic information of the respondents was collected through questionnaire including respondent’s age, education, employment, income, and ASD diagnosis age along with data on the study variables. The results explored a significant association among dependent and independent variables. In this regard, screen time exposure was reported with a highly significant association in relation to functional communication indicating its prominent role in communicative disorder in Autistic children. In addition, educational apps or games on electronic devices, were also found with a significant association (P = 0.000) to functional communication. Besides, social anxiety has been reported with a highly significant influence on communicative disorder (P =0.000) because children were found anxious in their social situation. Overall, the study underscores the complex interplay between parental perception on communicative comportment among ASD children in Peshawar, highlighting the needs for targeted intervention and support services to address the diverse challenges faced by ASD children.

Keywords; Autism spectrum disorder, parental perception, communicative behavior disorder, social anxiety