Exploring the Cognitive Model of Social Anxiety in Autistic Young People—The Central Role of Bodily Symptoms

Abstract

We explored the role of negative performance beliefs and self-focused attention considered central to psychological models of social anxiety but not studied in autism. Firstly, we compared self- and observer ratings of performance on a social task for 71 young autistic people, 41 high and 30 low in social anxiety, finding a significant main effect of social anxiety but not rater. Subsequently, 76 autistic young people, 46 high and 30 low social anxiety completed measures of interoceptive sensibility and focus of attention following a social task. Only heightened interoceptive sensibility fully mediated the relationship between self-ratings of social performance and social anxiety. These findings suggest awareness of bodily sensations are critical to anxiety in social situations with implications for treatment.

Understanding the relationship between social camouflaging in autism and safety behaviours in social anxiety in autistic and non‐autistic adolescents

“…All participant demographic information and outcome variables are shown in Tables 1 and 2. Groups were matched on age (t (113) = 1.07, p = .29), reading ability (% correct trials) (t (94) = À0.53, p = .60), gender identity (v 2 (5, 115) = 6.80, p = .24), ethnicity (v 2 (3, 115) = 4.14 p = .25), presence of mental health difficulties (v 2 (3, 115) = 3.81, p = .28), parental education (v 2 (2, 115) = 3.96, (Bernardin et al, 2021;Cooper, Russell, Lei, & Smith, 2022;Hull et al, 2019;Hull, Lai, et al, 2020;Jorgenson et al, 2020;Lei & Russell, 2020;Ranta et al, 2007;Wood et al, 2022), see Appendix S2 Results and Table S1a,b.…”

“…For comparison of camouflaging and SA scores in current sample with other community adolescent samples (Bernardin et al., 2021; Cooper, Russell, Lei, & Smith, 2022; Hull et al., 2019; Hull, Lai, et al., 2020; Jorgenson et al., 2020; Lei & Russell, 2020; Ranta et al., 2007; Wood et al., 2022), see Appendix S2 Results and Table S1a,b.…”

Proprioception, Emotion and Social Responsiveness in Children with Developmental Disorders: An Exploratory Study in Autism Spectrum Disorder, Cerebral Palsy and Different Neurodevelopmental Situations

“…It has also been proposed that inadequate proprioceptive information in neurodevelopmental disorders may generate a distorted regulation of somatic states implicated in the construction of emotional processes, provoking deficiencies in the emotional adaptation to the environment [ 3 , 5 ]. Abnormal somatotopic representation and altered attention to interoceptive inputs affect socio-affective functions, such as empathy [ 52 , 53 ], and are linked to emotion-regulation deficits and social anxiety in populations with ASD [ 54 , 55 ]. This evidence has given rise to some therapies based on proprioception and movement perception to treat emotional dysregulation states, such as depressive disorders, in adults.…”

A multidimensional investigation of the relationship between skin-mediated somatosensory signals, emotion regulation and behavior problems in autistic children

“…For example, it has been suggested that somatosensory perception and higher order processing could be considered unique mechanisms that contribute to impaired emotional regulation in autistic people ( Mazefsky et al, 2013 ; Bennett et al, 2017 ). In addition, it has been observed that in autistic children there is a close relationship between the abnormal perception of other bodily signals, such as interoception, and emotional and behavioral regulation problems, such as anxiety in social situations ( Wood et al, 2022 ; Ben Hassen et al, 2023 ). The present concept of interoception also considers the skin as a sensory organ that can contribute to monitoring the physiological state of the body ( Crucianelli and Ehrsson, 2023 ), and therefore skin-mediated signals such as touch, pain, and temperature could play an essential role in the construction of body consciousness ( Failla et al, 2020b ).…”