Dataset Information

Emotion regulation patterns in adolescents with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder: comparison to typically developing adolescents and association with psychiatric symptoms.

ABSTRACT: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is often associated with poor emotional control and psychopathology, such as anxiety and depression; however, little is known about the underlying mechanisms. Emotion regulation (ER) is a potential contributing factor, but there has been limited research on ER and its role in comorbid psychopathology in ASD. In this study, we compared self-reported ER with self- and parent reports of psychopathology in 25 high-functioning adolescents with ASD and 23 age- and Intelligence Quotient (IQ)-matched typically developing controls. Contrary to expectations, both groups reported similar levels of adaptive, voluntary forms of ER (problem solving, acceptance, etc.). However, the ASD group reported significantly greater use of involuntary forms of ER that are typically maladaptive, including remaining focused on the stressor (e.g. rumination and emotional arousal) and shutting down (e.g. emotional numbing and being unable to think or act). Associations between ER and psychopathology were generally more robust using self-report rather than parent report. For both groups, greater endorsement of involuntary ER strategies was associated with higher ratings of psychopathology, whereas voluntary ER strategies focused on changing or adapting to the situation were significantly associated with lower levels of psychopathology. The magnitude and direction of association between ER types and psychopathology were similar for measures of depression and anxiety. These findings can help guide the development of psychosocial treatments targeting dysfunctional ER in adolescents with ASD. Interventions focused on ER as a transdiagnostic process may be a more robust method to improve emotional control and decrease emotional distress in ASD than disorder-specific interventions.

SUBMITTER: Mazefsky CA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4136477 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Emotion regulation patterns in adolescents with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder: comparison to typically developing adolescents and association with psychiatric symptoms.

Mazefsky Carla A CA Borue Xenia X Day Taylor N TN Minshew Nancy J NJ

Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research 20140307 3

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is often associated with poor emotional control and psychopathology, such as anxiety and depression; however, little is known about the underlying mechanisms. Emotion regulation (ER) is a potential contributing factor, but there has been limited research on ER and its role in comorbid psychopathology in ASD. In this study, we compared self-reported ER with self- and parent reports of psychopathology in 25 high-functioning adolescents with ASD and 23 age- and Intell ...[more]

PMID: 24610869

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Project description:Autism may be underdiagnosed in females because their social difficulties are often less noticeable. This study explored sex differences in automatic facial emotion processing in 45 adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (22 female, 23 male), age 10-16 years, performing active target detection task and Go/NoGo tasks where faces with positive and negative emotional expressions served as irrelevant distractors. The combined sample demonstrated more accurate performance on the target detection (response initiation) than the Go/NoGo task (response inhibition), replicating findings previously reported in typical participants. Females exhibited greater difficulty than males with response initiation in the target detection task, especially in the context of angry faces, while males found withholding a response in the Go/NoGo block with happy faces more challenging. Electrophysiological data revealed no sex differences or emotion discrimination effects during the early perceptual processing of faces indexed by the occipitotemporal N170. Autistic males demonstrated increased frontal N2 and parietal P3 amplitudes compared to females, suggesting greater neural resource allocation to automatic emotion regulation processes. The associations between standardized behavioral measures (autism severity, theory of mind skills) and brain responses also varied by sex: more adaptive social functioning was related to the speed of perceptual processing (N170 latency) in females and the extent of deliberate attention allocation (P3 amplitudes) in males. Together, these findings suggest that males and females with autism may rely on different strategies for social functioning and highlight the importance of considering sex differences in autism. LAY SUMMARY: Females with autism may exhibit less noticeable social difficulties than males. This study demonstrates that autistic females are more successful than males at inhibiting behavioral responses in emotional contexts, while males are more likely to initiate a response. At the neural level, social functioning in females is related to the speed of automatic perceptual processing of facial cues, and in males, to the extent of active attention allocation to the stimuli. These findings highlight the importance of considering sex differences in autism diagnosis and treatment selection.

Dataset Information

Emotion regulation patterns in adolescents with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder: comparison to typically developing adolescents and association with psychiatric symptoms.

Publications

Emotion regulation patterns in adolescents with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder: comparison to typically developing adolescents and association with psychiatric symptoms.

Similar Datasets

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