Abstract

Alexithymia, a difficulty identifying and communicating one’s own emotions, affects socio-emotional processes, such as emotion recognition and empathy. Co-occurring alexithymia is prevalent in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and underlies some socio-emotional difficulties previously attributed to autism. Socio-emotional abilities are examined during behavioural diagnostic assessments of autism, yet the effect of alexithymia on these assessments is not known. In this study, two previously collected samples of Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) assessments were used to examine the relationship between alexithymia and ADOS score. Participants included 96 women with anorexia, and 147 adolescents who were either high in autistic symptoms, or whose twin had high autistic symptoms. We examined: (1) the impact of alexithymia on meeting the criteria for autism/ASD; (2) correlations between alexithymia and ADOS subscales; and (3) whether alexithymia predicted scores on specific ADOS items, selected a priori based on the literature. Our results suggest that alexithymia as reported by others (e.g. parents) is associated with autism assessment scores. Alexithymia may therefore affect who gets diagnosed as autistic and who does not, and could explain why some individuals with anorexia nervosa sometimes appear to have an autism-like profile.

Reference

Jane Conway, “The impact of alexithymia on autism diagnostic assessments: evidence from twins at genetic risk of autism and adults with anorexia nervosa”, IAST Lunch Seminar, Toulouse: IAST, November 19, 2019, 12:45–13:45, room MS 003.