Intolerance of Uncertainty and Anxiety (but not Alexithymia) Mediate the Association Between Autistic Traits and Quality of Life

Yeju Lin; David Mason; Colette Hirsch; Francesca Happe

doi:10.1007/s10803-024-06310-9

Intolerance of Uncertainty and Anxiety (but not Alexithymia) Mediate the Association Between Autistic Traits and Quality of Life

Yeju Lin^*, David Mason, Colette Hirsch, Francesca Happe

^*Corresponding author for this work

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

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Previous research has indicated that autistic individuals report lower quality of life (QoL) than non-autistic people. It is unclear whether it is the autism traits themselves or co-occurring thinking styles or mental health difficulties that most impair QoL. This study tested a hypothesised model to explore how ‘intolerance of uncertainty’ (IU), alexithymia (difficulty in identifying and describing own emotions), and anxiety play into the association between autistic traits and QoL. Online survey data were analysed from 116 autistic and 51 non-autistic adults who completed six standardised questionnaires measuring autistic traits, alexithymia, IU, anxiety and QoL (physical health, psychological health, social relations, and environment domains). The autistic group reported higher scores for alexithymia, IU and anxiety, and lower scores for QoL across domains, compared to the non-autistic group. Across the entire sample, autistic traits, alexithymia, IU and anxiety were positively correlated with one another, and negatively related to the four domains of QoL. Finally, IU and anxiety partially serially mediated the pathways from autistic traits to physical health and environment domains of QoL, and fully mediated the pathways from autistic traits to psychological health and social relations domains of QoL, across the full sample. The lower QoL experienced by autistic people may be explained in part by the mediating effect of both IU and anxiety (but not alexithymia). This study highlights the need for evidence-based interventions to address both IU and anxiety to improve QoL for autistic people/those with high levels of autistic traits.

Original language	English
Journal	Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-024-06310-9
Publication status	Published - 6 Mar 2024

Keywords

Autism
Autistic traits
Alexithymia
Intolerance of uncertainty
Anxiety
Quality of life
Mediation

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10.1007/s10803-024-06310-9

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title = "Intolerance of Uncertainty and Anxiety (but not Alexithymia) Mediate the Association Between Autistic Traits and Quality of Life",

abstract = "Previous research has indicated that autistic individuals report lower quality of life (QoL) than non-autistic people. It is unclear whether it is the autism traits themselves or co-occurring thinking styles or mental health difficulties that most impair QoL. This study tested a hypothesised model to explore how {\textquoteleft}intolerance of uncertainty{\textquoteright} (IU), alexithymia (difficulty in identifying and describing own emotions), and anxiety play into the association between autistic traits and QoL. Online survey data were analysed from 116 autistic and 51 non-autistic adults who completed six standardised questionnaires measuring autistic traits, alexithymia, IU, anxiety and QoL (physical health, psychological health, social relations, and environment domains). The autistic group reported higher scores for alexithymia, IU and anxiety, and lower scores for QoL across domains, compared to the non-autistic group. Across the entire sample, autistic traits, alexithymia, IU and anxiety were positively correlated with one another, and negatively related to the four domains of QoL. Finally, IU and anxiety partially serially mediated the pathways from autistic traits to physical health and environment domains of QoL, and fully mediated the pathways from autistic traits to psychological health and social relations domains of QoL, across the full sample. The lower QoL experienced by autistic people may be explained in part by the mediating effect of both IU and anxiety (but not alexithymia). This study highlights the need for evidence-based interventions to address both IU and anxiety to improve QoL for autistic people/those with high levels of autistic traits.",

keywords = "Autism, Autistic traits, Alexithymia, Intolerance of uncertainty, Anxiety, Quality of life, Mediation",

author = "Yeju Lin and David Mason and Colette Hirsch and Francesca Happe",

note = "Funding Information: YL was funded by the China Scholarship Council PhD Scholarship Programme (CSC), File No. 202008060267. FH is part funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King?s College London. The funders had no direct involvement in the conduct of this research. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the CSC or NIHR. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2024.",

year = "2024",

month = mar,

day = "6",

doi = "10.1007/s10803-024-06310-9",

language = "English",

journal = "Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders",

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AU - Lin, Yeju

AU - Mason, David

AU - Hirsch, Colette

AU - Happe, Francesca

N1 - Funding Information: YL was funded by the China Scholarship Council PhD Scholarship Programme (CSC), File No. 202008060267. FH is part funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King?s College London. The funders had no direct involvement in the conduct of this research. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the CSC or NIHR. Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2024.

PY - 2024/3/6

Y1 - 2024/3/6

N2 - Previous research has indicated that autistic individuals report lower quality of life (QoL) than non-autistic people. It is unclear whether it is the autism traits themselves or co-occurring thinking styles or mental health difficulties that most impair QoL. This study tested a hypothesised model to explore how ‘intolerance of uncertainty’ (IU), alexithymia (difficulty in identifying and describing own emotions), and anxiety play into the association between autistic traits and QoL. Online survey data were analysed from 116 autistic and 51 non-autistic adults who completed six standardised questionnaires measuring autistic traits, alexithymia, IU, anxiety and QoL (physical health, psychological health, social relations, and environment domains). The autistic group reported higher scores for alexithymia, IU and anxiety, and lower scores for QoL across domains, compared to the non-autistic group. Across the entire sample, autistic traits, alexithymia, IU and anxiety were positively correlated with one another, and negatively related to the four domains of QoL. Finally, IU and anxiety partially serially mediated the pathways from autistic traits to physical health and environment domains of QoL, and fully mediated the pathways from autistic traits to psychological health and social relations domains of QoL, across the full sample. The lower QoL experienced by autistic people may be explained in part by the mediating effect of both IU and anxiety (but not alexithymia). This study highlights the need for evidence-based interventions to address both IU and anxiety to improve QoL for autistic people/those with high levels of autistic traits.

AB - Previous research has indicated that autistic individuals report lower quality of life (QoL) than non-autistic people. It is unclear whether it is the autism traits themselves or co-occurring thinking styles or mental health difficulties that most impair QoL. This study tested a hypothesised model to explore how ‘intolerance of uncertainty’ (IU), alexithymia (difficulty in identifying and describing own emotions), and anxiety play into the association between autistic traits and QoL. Online survey data were analysed from 116 autistic and 51 non-autistic adults who completed six standardised questionnaires measuring autistic traits, alexithymia, IU, anxiety and QoL (physical health, psychological health, social relations, and environment domains). The autistic group reported higher scores for alexithymia, IU and anxiety, and lower scores for QoL across domains, compared to the non-autistic group. Across the entire sample, autistic traits, alexithymia, IU and anxiety were positively correlated with one another, and negatively related to the four domains of QoL. Finally, IU and anxiety partially serially mediated the pathways from autistic traits to physical health and environment domains of QoL, and fully mediated the pathways from autistic traits to psychological health and social relations domains of QoL, across the full sample. The lower QoL experienced by autistic people may be explained in part by the mediating effect of both IU and anxiety (but not alexithymia). This study highlights the need for evidence-based interventions to address both IU and anxiety to improve QoL for autistic people/those with high levels of autistic traits.

KW - Autism

KW - Autistic traits

KW - Alexithymia

KW - Intolerance of uncertainty

KW - Anxiety

KW - Quality of life

KW - Mediation

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DO - 10.1007/s10803-024-06310-9

M3 - Article

SN - 0162-3257

JO - Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

JF - Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

ER -

Intolerance of Uncertainty and Anxiety (but not Alexithymia) Mediate the Association Between Autistic Traits and Quality of Life

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