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Alexithymia in Autism: Psychophysiological Correlates and a Possible Route to Anxiety
Objectives: To examine the psychophysiological basis of Alexithymia in ASD and to explore possible associations between Anxiety and Alexithymia.
Methods: In experiment 1 seventy-six adults (33 ASD; 43 TD) completed standardised Alexithymia questionnaires (BVAQ & TAS-20) as well as the Becks Anxiety Inventory (BAI). In experiment 2, 13 ASD and 13 TD participants were asked to rate a series of images that ranged widely in emotional salience (valence and arousal) while their Skin Conductance Responses were measured. These smaller groups were carefully selected to match as closely as possible in terms of age, IQ as well as Alexithymia whilst ensuring that Alexithymia scores varied sufficiently to allow for meaningful correlation analyses.
Results: In Experiment 1, ASD participants were more Alexithymic on both the BVAQ (p<.05) and TAS-20 (p<.001) and the two measures correlated significantly with one another for both ASD (r = 0.42) and TD (r = 0.45) participants. Although groups did not differ on the BAI, Anxiety and TAS-20 correlated significantly in ASD (r = .52) but not TD (r = .19) participants. In Experiment 2 subjective ratings of arousal were significantly correlated with participant’s GSR responses, again in both ASD (r = .51) and TD (r = .55) groups. By computing correlation coefficients for this association for each individual, we were able to ask to what extent the degree of coupling between subjective and psychophysiological emotional responses is in turn associated with participants’ Alexithymia and Anxiety. In both groups, reduced coupling was associated with greater Alexithymia (r < -0.54) and increased coupling with greater Anxiety (r > 0.46)
Conclusions: Our date reveal a complex pattern of associations between Alexithymia, Anxiety and the interplay between subjective and psychophysiological facets of emotional experiences that seem to suggest that abnormalities in conscious awareness of one’s state of arousal contribute to Anxiety as well as Alexithymia in ASD.