Investigating the role of alexithymia on the empathic deficits found in schizotypy and autism spectrum traits

Aaron, Rachel V.; Benson, Taylor L.; Park, Sohee

doi:10.1016/j.paid.2014.12.032

Cited by 58 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 50 publications

(74 reference statements)

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“…Typically, levels of alexithymia, as indexed by the TAS-20, and levels of autistic traits, as indexed by the AQ, are correlated (Aaron, Benson, & Park, 2015), and autistic traits have been predicted to be related to the inhibition of imitation by Quattrocki and Friston (2014). Thus, in the current study we incorporated both measures to identify the variance in performance accounted for by levels of alexithymia over and above that accounted for by autistic traits.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The specificity of the link between alexithymia, interoception, and imitation.

Sowden¹,

Brewer²,

Catmur³

et al. 2016

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Perfor

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Alexithymia is a subclinical condition traditionally characterized by difficulties identifying and describing one’s own emotions. Recent formulations of alexithymia, however, suggest that the condition may result from a generalized impairment in the perception of all bodily signals (“interoception”). Interoceptive accuracy has been associated with a variety of deficits in social cognition, but recently with an improved ability to inhibit the automatic tendency to imitate the actions of others. The current study tested the consequences for social cognition of the hypothesized association between alexithymia and impaired interoception by examining the relationship between alexithymia and the ability to inhibit imitation. If alexithymia is best characterized as a general interoceptive impairment, then one would predict that alexithymia would have the same relationship with the ability to control imitation as does interoceptive accuracy. Forty-three healthy adults completed measures of alexithymia, imitation-inhibition, and as a control, inhibition of nonimitative spatial compatibility. Results revealed the predicted relationship, such that increasing alexithymia was associated with an improved ability to inhibit imitation, and that this relationship was specific to imitation-inhibition. These results support the characterization of alexithymia as a general interoceptive impairment and shed light on the social ability of alexithymic individuals—with implications for the multitude of psychiatric, neurological, and neurodevelopmental disorders associated with high rates of alexithymia.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The specificity of the link between alexithymia, interoception, and imitation.

Sowden¹,

Brewer²,

Catmur³

et al. 2016

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Perfor

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show abstract

“…Meanwhile, schizophrenia also has a strong correlation with alexithymia (13). A considerable amount of research has found that schizophrenia patients exhibit higher levels of alexithymia, and that individuals with higher levels of alexithymia may be more prone to schizophrenia spectrum disorders (14).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Mediating Effect of Alexithymia on the Relationship Between Schizotypal Traits and Sleep Problems Among College Students

Zhang

Zou

2020

Front. Psychiatry

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A body of research has investigated the relationship between alexithymia and sleep problems, as well as the relationship between schizophrenia and alexithymia. However, there have been few studies on the relationships between the three. The current study explored the relationship between schizotypal traits and sleep problems among college students, and the potential role of alexithymia as a mediator of this relationship. The participants were all first-year students at a medical university in Guangdong province, China. A total of 2,626 college students participated. They were asked to complete a questionnaire that incorporated the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ), the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), and the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). The results revealed a relatively high percentage of students with mild insomnia (74.8%) and a smaller percentage with moderate to severe insomnia (7.9%). Correlation analysis revealed that both the TAS-20 and ISI scores had significant positive correlations with the SPQ score (p < 0.01). There was also a significant positive correlation between the TAS-20 and ISI scores (p < 0.01). The ISI score was significantly influenced by the SPQ score in a direct way, and increased considerably with increases in the TAS-20 score, indicating the importance of alexithymia as a mediator. The mediation model was tested via regression analysis and the bias-corrected bootstrap method, and these results further confirmed the role of alexithymia as a mediator.

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“…Thus, it is likely that, when observed, the emotional processing deficits in ASD are due to the presence of elevated levels of alexithymia. Indeed, after accounting for co-occurring alexithymia, autism is no longer associated with aberrant neural activation while empathizing with others' pain 38 , self-reported deficits on dispositional empathy 39 , or deficits in interocepting on one's own emotional states 37 . Thus, any investigation gauging effects of aberrant emotional skills on moral cognition in ASD should also account for effects of prevalent alexithymia.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Divergent roles of autistic and alexithymic traits in utilitarian moral judgments in adults with autism

Patil¹,

Melsbach²,

Hennig-Fast³

et al. 2017

Preprint

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This study investigated hypothetical moral choices in adults with high-functioning autism and the role of empathy and alexithymia in such choices. We used a highly emotionally salient moral dilemma task to investigate autistics' hypothetical moral evaluations about personally carrying out harmful utilitarian behaviours aimed at maximizing welfare. Results showed that they exhibited a normal pattern of moral judgments despite the deficits in social cognition and emotional processing. Further analyses revealed that this was due to mutually conflicting biases associated with autistic and alexithymic traits after accounting for shared variance: (a) autistic traits were associated with reduced utilitarian bias due to elevated personal distress of demanding social situations, while (b) alexithymic traits were associated with increased utilitarian bias on account of reduced empathic concern for the victim. Additionally, autistics relied on their non-verbal reasoning skills to rigidly abide by harm-norms. Thus, utilitarian moral judgments in autism were spared due to opposite influences of autistic and alexithymic traits and compensatory intellectual strategies. These findings demonstrate the importance of empathy and alexithymia in autistic moral cognition and have methodological implications for studying moral judgments in several other clinical populations.

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Investigating the role of alexithymia on the empathic deficits found in schizotypy and autism spectrum traits

Cited by 58 publications

References 50 publications

The specificity of the link between alexithymia, interoception, and imitation.

The specificity of the link between alexithymia, interoception, and imitation.

The Mediating Effect of Alexithymia on the Relationship Between Schizotypal Traits and Sleep Problems Among College Students

Divergent roles of autistic and alexithymic traits in utilitarian moral judgments in adults with autism

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