Alexithymic and autistic traits: Relevance for comorbid depression and social phobia in adults with and without autism spectrum disorder.

ABSTRACT:

Lay abstract

Adults with autism often develop mental health problems such as depression and social phobia. The reasons for this are still unclear. Many studies found that alexithymia plays an important role in mental health problems like depression. People with alexithymia have difficulties identifying and describing their emotions. Almost every second person with autism has alexithymia. Therefore, we explored in this study whether alexithymia is linked to worse mental health in autistic people. We looked at two common diagnoses, depression and social phobia. We found that alexithymia increased symptoms of depression, while autistic traits increased symptoms of social phobia. Our results suggest that alexithymia and autistic traits can increase the risk of mental health problems. A

SUBMITTER: Albantakis L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7543015 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature