Alexithymia in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Its Relationship to Internalising Difficulties, Sensory Modulation and Social Cognition

Bosiljka Milosavljevic; Virginia Carter Leno; Emily Simonoff; Gillian Baird; Andrew Pickles; Catherine R. G. Jones; Catherine Erskine; Tony Charman; Francesca Happé

doi:10.1007/s10803-015-2670-8

Alexithymia in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Its Relationship to Internalising Difficulties, Sensory Modulation and Social Cognition

Bosiljka Milosavljevic^*, Virginia Carter Leno, Emily Simonoff, Gillian Baird, Andrew Pickles, Catherine R. G. Jones, Catherine Erskine, Tony Charman, Francesca Happé

^*Corresponding author for this work

GSTT Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust

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Abstract

Alexithymia is a personality trait frequently found in adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and has been linked to impairments in emotion recognition and empathy. The presentation of alexithymia within ASD at younger ages remains unexplored, and was examined in the present study. Alexithymia rates were significantly elevated in ASD (55%; 31/56 scoring above cut-off) versus non-ASD adolescents (16%; 5/32 scoring above cut-off). Within individuals with ASD, alexithymia was associated with increased self-reported anxiety, parent-reported emotional difficulties, self-reported sensory processing atypicalities, and poorer emotion recognition, but was not associated with theory of mind ability. Overall, our results suggest that alexithymia is highly prevalent, and has selective cognitive correlates in young people with ASD.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1354-1367
Number of pages	14
Journal	Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
Volume	46
Issue number	4
Early online date	11 Dec 2015
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2670-8
Publication status	Published - 1 Apr 2016

Keywords

Alexithymia
Anxiety
Autism spectrum disorder
Emotion recognition
Sensory processing
Theory of mind

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10.1007/s10803-015-2670-8

Alexithymia in Adolescents_Firstonline11December2015_GREEN AAMAccepted author manuscript, 312 KB

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Milosavljevic, B., Carter Leno, V., Simonoff, E., Baird, G., Pickles, A., Jones, C. R. G., Erskine, C., Charman, T., & Happé, F. (2016). Alexithymia in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Its Relationship to Internalising Difficulties, Sensory Modulation and Social Cognition. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 46(4), 1354-1367. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2670-8

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abstract = "Alexithymia is a personality trait frequently found in adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and has been linked to impairments in emotion recognition and empathy. The presentation of alexithymia within ASD at younger ages remains unexplored, and was examined in the present study. Alexithymia rates were significantly elevated in ASD (55%; 31/56 scoring above cut-off) versus non-ASD adolescents (16%; 5/32 scoring above cut-off). Within individuals with ASD, alexithymia was associated with increased self-reported anxiety, parent-reported emotional difficulties, self-reported sensory processing atypicalities, and poorer emotion recognition, but was not associated with theory of mind ability. Overall, our results suggest that alexithymia is highly prevalent, and has selective cognitive correlates in young people with ASD.",

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Milosavljevic, B , Carter Leno, V , Simonoff, E, Baird, G, Pickles, A, Jones, CRG, Erskine, C, Charman, T & Happé, F 2016, 'Alexithymia in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Its Relationship to Internalising Difficulties, Sensory Modulation and Social Cognition', Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, vol. 46, no. 4, pp. 1354-1367. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2670-8

Alexithymia in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Its Relationship to Internalising Difficulties, Sensory Modulation and Social Cognition. / Milosavljevic, Bosiljka ; Carter Leno, Virginia ; Simonoff, Emily et al.
In: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, Vol. 46, No. 4, 01.04.2016, p. 1354-1367.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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AU - Milosavljevic, Bosiljka

AU - Carter Leno, Virginia

AU - Simonoff, Emily

AU - Baird, Gillian

AU - Pickles, Andrew

AU - Jones, Catherine R. G.

AU - Erskine, Catherine

AU - Charman, Tony

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Alexithymia in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Its Relationship to Internalising Difficulties, Sensory Modulation and Social Cognition

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