Alexithymia traits outweigh autism traits in the explanation of depression in adults with autism

Abstract When contemplating the alarming depression rates in adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), there is a need to find factors explaining heightened symptoms of depression. Beyond the impact of autism traits, markedly increased levels of alexithymia traits should be considered as a candida...

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Autores principales:	Carola Bloch, Lana Burghof, Fritz-Georg Lehnhardt, Kai Vogeley, Christine Falter-Wagner
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/67cf81592ec0468e89aaf893aa601734
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:67cf81592ec0468e89aaf893aa6017342021-12-02T13:57:26ZAlexithymia traits outweigh autism traits in the explanation of depression in adults with autism10.1038/s41598-021-81696-52045-2322https://doaj.org/article/67cf81592ec0468e89aaf893aa6017342021-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-81696-5https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract When contemplating the alarming depression rates in adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), there is a need to find factors explaining heightened symptoms of depression. Beyond the impact of autism traits, markedly increased levels of alexithymia traits should be considered as a candidate for explaining why individuals with ASD report higher levels of depressive symptoms. Here, we aim to identify the extent to which autism or alexithymia traits indicate depressive symptoms in ASD and whether the pattern of association are specific to ASD. Data of a large (N = 400) representative clinical population of adults referred to autism diagnostics have been investigated and split by cases with a confirmed ASD diagnosis (N = 281) and cases with a ruled out ASD diagnosis (N = 119). Dominance analysis revealed the alexithymia factor, difficulties in identifying feelings, as the strongest predictor for depressive symptomatology in ASD, outweighing autism traits and other alexithymia factors. This pattern of prediction was not specific to ASD and was shared by clinical controls from the referral population with a ruled out ASD diagnosis. Thus, the association of alexithymia traits with depression is not unique to ASD and may constitute a general psychopathological mechanism in clinical samples.Carola BlochLana BurghofFritz-Georg LehnhardtKai VogeleyChristine Falter-WagnerNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-7 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Carola Bloch Lana Burghof Fritz-Georg Lehnhardt Kai Vogeley Christine Falter-Wagner Alexithymia traits outweigh autism traits in the explanation of depression in adults with autism
description	Abstract When contemplating the alarming depression rates in adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), there is a need to find factors explaining heightened symptoms of depression. Beyond the impact of autism traits, markedly increased levels of alexithymia traits should be considered as a candidate for explaining why individuals with ASD report higher levels of depressive symptoms. Here, we aim to identify the extent to which autism or alexithymia traits indicate depressive symptoms in ASD and whether the pattern of association are specific to ASD. Data of a large (N = 400) representative clinical population of adults referred to autism diagnostics have been investigated and split by cases with a confirmed ASD diagnosis (N = 281) and cases with a ruled out ASD diagnosis (N = 119). Dominance analysis revealed the alexithymia factor, difficulties in identifying feelings, as the strongest predictor for depressive symptomatology in ASD, outweighing autism traits and other alexithymia factors. This pattern of prediction was not specific to ASD and was shared by clinical controls from the referral population with a ruled out ASD diagnosis. Thus, the association of alexithymia traits with depression is not unique to ASD and may constitute a general psychopathological mechanism in clinical samples.
format	article
author	Carola Bloch Lana Burghof Fritz-Georg Lehnhardt Kai Vogeley Christine Falter-Wagner
author_facet	Carola Bloch Lana Burghof Fritz-Georg Lehnhardt Kai Vogeley Christine Falter-Wagner
author_sort	Carola Bloch
title	Alexithymia traits outweigh autism traits in the explanation of depression in adults with autism
title_short	Alexithymia traits outweigh autism traits in the explanation of depression in adults with autism
title_full	Alexithymia traits outweigh autism traits in the explanation of depression in adults with autism
title_fullStr	Alexithymia traits outweigh autism traits in the explanation of depression in adults with autism
title_full_unstemmed	Alexithymia traits outweigh autism traits in the explanation of depression in adults with autism
title_sort	alexithymia traits outweigh autism traits in the explanation of depression in adults with autism
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/67cf81592ec0468e89aaf893aa601734
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Alexithymia traits outweigh autism traits in the explanation of depression in adults with autism

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