Alexithymia and autism spectrum disorder : a complex relationship

Alexithymia is a personality construct characterized by altered emotional awareness which has been gaining diagnostic prevalence in a range of neuropsychiatric disorders, with notably high rates of overlap with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, the nature of its role in ASD symptomatology rem...

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Main Authors: Poquérusse, Jessie, Pastore, Luigi, Dellantonio, Sara, Esposito, Gianluca
Other Authors: School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2018
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Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/85801
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/45100
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-858012020-03-07T12:10:38Z Alexithymia and autism spectrum disorder : a complex relationship Poquérusse, Jessie Pastore, Luigi Dellantonio, Sara Esposito, Gianluca School of Humanities and Social Sciences Autism Spectrum Disorders Alexithymia Alexithymia is a personality construct characterized by altered emotional awareness which has been gaining diagnostic prevalence in a range of neuropsychiatric disorders, with notably high rates of overlap with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, the nature of its role in ASD symptomatology remains elusive. Here, we distill research at the intersection of alexithymia and ASD. After a brief synopsis of the studies that plaid a pioneering role in the identification of the overlapping fields between alexithymia and ASD, we comb the literature for evidence of its overlap with ASD in terms of prevalence, etiology, and behaviors. Through a formalized framework of the process of emotional interpretation and expression, we explore evidence for where and how deficits arise in this complex network of events. We portray how these relate to the dynamic interplay between alexithymic and autistic traits and find emerging evidence that alexithymia is both a cause and consequence of autistic behaviors. We end with a strategic proposal for future research and interventions to dampen the impacts of alexithymia in ASD. Published version 2018-07-17T08:56:39Z 2019-12-06T16:10:28Z 2018-07-17T08:56:39Z 2019-12-06T16:10:28Z 2018 Journal Article Poquérusse, J., Pastore, L., Dellantonio, S., & Esposito, G. (2018). Alexithymia and autism spectrum disorder : a complex relationship. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1196-. https://hdl.handle.net/10356/85801 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/45100 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01196 en Frontiers in Psychology © 2018 Poquérusse, Pastore, Dellantonio and Esposito. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. 10 p. application/pdf
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
country Singapore
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic Autism Spectrum Disorders
Alexithymia
spellingShingle Autism Spectrum Disorders
Alexithymia
Poquérusse, Jessie
Pastore, Luigi
Dellantonio, Sara
Esposito, Gianluca
Alexithymia and autism spectrum disorder : a complex relationship
description Alexithymia is a personality construct characterized by altered emotional awareness which has been gaining diagnostic prevalence in a range of neuropsychiatric disorders, with notably high rates of overlap with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, the nature of its role in ASD symptomatology remains elusive. Here, we distill research at the intersection of alexithymia and ASD. After a brief synopsis of the studies that plaid a pioneering role in the identification of the overlapping fields between alexithymia and ASD, we comb the literature for evidence of its overlap with ASD in terms of prevalence, etiology, and behaviors. Through a formalized framework of the process of emotional interpretation and expression, we explore evidence for where and how deficits arise in this complex network of events. We portray how these relate to the dynamic interplay between alexithymic and autistic traits and find emerging evidence that alexithymia is both a cause and consequence of autistic behaviors. We end with a strategic proposal for future research and interventions to dampen the impacts of alexithymia in ASD.
author2 School of Humanities and Social Sciences
author_facet School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Poquérusse, Jessie
Pastore, Luigi
Dellantonio, Sara
Esposito, Gianluca
format Article
author Poquérusse, Jessie
Pastore, Luigi
Dellantonio, Sara
Esposito, Gianluca
author_sort Poquérusse, Jessie
title Alexithymia and autism spectrum disorder : a complex relationship
title_short Alexithymia and autism spectrum disorder : a complex relationship
title_full Alexithymia and autism spectrum disorder : a complex relationship
title_fullStr Alexithymia and autism spectrum disorder : a complex relationship
title_full_unstemmed Alexithymia and autism spectrum disorder : a complex relationship
title_sort alexithymia and autism spectrum disorder : a complex relationship
publishDate 2018
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/85801
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/45100
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