Social anxiety in adult males with autism spectrum disorders

Spain, Debbie; Happé, Francesca; Johnston, Patrick G.; Campbell, Malcolm; Sin, Jacqueline; Daly, Eileen; Ecker, Christine; Anson, Martin; Chaplin, Eddie; Glaser, Karen; Méndez, A. López; Lovell, Karina; Murphy, Declan

doi:10.1016/j.rasd.2016.08.002

Cited by 35 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…(53.66% of the autistic adults met the alexithymia cut-off, against 13.51% of the neurotypical group; the 25 quantile social anxiety score in the autistic group is 72, while the 75 quantile score in the neurotypical group is 51.) This imbalance between our groups raises the question whether alexithymia or social anxiety is intrinsically linked to autism [ 52 , 111 ] or whether they correspond to personal characteristics that may impact attention to eyes in autistic individuals [ 51 , 106 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

No preference for direct versus averted gaze in autistic adults: a reinforced preferential looking paradigm

2020

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Background With the overarching objective to gain better insights into social attention in autistic adults, the present study addresses three outstanding issues about face processing in autism. First, do autistic adults display a preference for mouths over eyes; second, do they avoid direct gaze; third, is atypical visual exploration of faces in autism mediated by gender, social anxiety or alexithymia? Methods We used a novel reinforced preferential looking paradigm with a group of autistic adults (n = 43, 23 women) pairwise matched on age with neurotypical participants (n = 43, 21 women). Participants watched 28 different pairs of 5 s video recordings of a speaking person: the two videos, simultaneously displayed on the screen, were identical except that gaze was directed at the camera in one video and averted in the other. After a 680 ms transition phase, a short reinforcement animation appeared on the side that had displayed the direct gaze. Results None of the groups showed a preference for mouths over eyes. However, neurotypical participants fixated significantly more the stimuli with direct gaze, while no such preference emerged in autistic participants. As the experiment progressed, neurotypical participants also increasingly anticipated the appearance of the reinforcement, based on the location of the stimulus with the direct gaze, while no such anticipation emerged in autistic participants. Limitations Our autistic participants scored higher on the social anxiety and alexithymia questionnaires than neurotypicals. Future studies should match neurotypical and autistic participants on social anxiety and alexithymia and complement questionnaires with physiological measures of anxiety. Conclusions The absence of preference for direct versus averted gaze in the autistic group is probably due to difficulties in distinguishing eye gaze direction, potentially linked to a reduced spontaneous exploration or avoidance of the eye region. Social attention and preference for direct versus averted gaze correlated with alexithymia and social anxiety scores, but not gender.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

No preference for direct versus averted gaze in autistic adults: a reinforced preferential looking paradigm

2020

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“…Whether these normative thresholds apply to the ASD population requires further scrutiny but, to date, the LSAS has been the most commonly used self-report social anxiety measure in adult ASD samples (e.g. Bejerot, Eriksson & Mortberg, 2014;Maddox & White, 2015;Spain et al, 2016).…”

Section: Outcome Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Group cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) for social interaction anxiety in adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD)

Spain

Blainey

Vaillancourt

2017

Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders

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“…High social anxiety is a feature of both ASD (16,77) and AN (15), and our findings might suggest that social anxiety worries are important in explaining comorbidity between AN and ASD. It has been hypothesized that some of the core symptoms of ASD may increase the risk of developing social anxiety (78,79). For example, poor social skills or difficulties in recognizing emotions and mental states in others may lead to rejection from peers and isolation during formative years, factors which are implicated in the development of social anxiety disorder (SAD).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Relationships Between Autism Spectrum Disorder Symptoms and Eating Disorder Symptoms in Adults With Anorexia Nervosa: A Network Approach

et al. 2020

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Over the past few decades, research has accumulated to suggest a relationship between anorexia nervosa (AN) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Elevated ASD traits are present in around one third of those with AN, and there is some evidence to suggest that ASD traits are associated with more severe eating disorder (ED) psychopathology. The current study aimed to examine relationships between ED and ASD symptoms in individuals with a lifetime history of AN using network analysis. One hundred and one participants completed the ED Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) and the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS-2). A regularized partial correlation network was estimated using a graphical least absolute shrinkage and selection operator. Expected influence (EI) and bridge EI values were calculated to identify central and bridge symptoms respectively. Isolation, difficulties with relating to others, and feelings of tension during social situations were most central to the network, while poor self-confidence, concerns over eating around others, and concerns over others seeing one's body were the strongest bridge symptoms. Our findings confirm that interpersonal problems are central to ED psychopathology. They also suggest poor self-confidence and social anxiety-type worries may mediate the relationship between ED and ASD symptoms in those with a lifetime diagnosis of AN. Longitudinal studies examining fluctuations in symptoms over time may be helpful in understanding direction of causality.

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Social anxiety in adult males with autism spectrum disorders

Cited by 35 publications

References 54 publications

No preference for direct versus averted gaze in autistic adults: a reinforced preferential looking paradigm

No preference for direct versus averted gaze in autistic adults: a reinforced preferential looking paradigm

Group cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) for social interaction anxiety in adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD)

Exploring Relationships Between Autism Spectrum Disorder Symptoms and Eating Disorder Symptoms in Adults With Anorexia Nervosa: A Network Approach

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