Hill and colleagues compared 27 high functioning adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to 35 neurotypical controls and 49 biological relatives. They found that ASD individuals were less able to process their emotions and, perhaps for that reason, more depressed than both the controls and the relatives. Their findings join others in showing that, even for high functioning individuals, ASD is associated with poorer emotion regulation and higher negative affect.
Abstract
Difficulties in the cognitive processing of emotions–including difficulties identifying and describing feelings–are assumed to be an integral part of autism. We studied such difficulties via self-report in 27 high-functioning adults with autistic spectrum disorders, their biological relatives (n = 49), and normal adult controls (n = 35), using the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale and the Beck Depression Inventory. The individuals with autism spectrum disorders were significantly more impaired in their emotion processing and were more depressed than those in the control and relative groups.
Citation
Hill, E., Berthoz, S., & Frith, U. (2004). Brief Report: Cognitive Processing of Own Emotions in Individuals with Autistic Spectrum Disorder and in Their Relatives. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 34(2), 229–235.
Dr Martin Fracker 