Translated to “no words for emotions,” alexithymia is characterized by difficulty identifying and describing one’s emotions and a tendency to focus on external, rather than internal, experiences ( Taylor 1984). Here we present and test a model that posits that autistic features will be associated with alexithymia, which will in turn be associated with emotional regulation difficulties, causing increased severity of anxiety and depression in individuals with ASD.Īlexithymia is common in ASD ( Poquerusse et al. Alexithymia warrants consideration given its relationship with emotional regulation ( Swart et al.

However, other contributors to mood disorders in ASD remain to be explored. Some explanations for this association could be increased awareness of impairment ( Barnhill and Smith-Myles 2001) or even stress accumulated from negative social experiences in the past ( Rosbrook and Whittingham 2010). In fact, greater cognitive ability is strongly associated with the co-occurrence of depression and/or anxiety in individuals with ASD ( Volkmar et al.

Despite being capable of great academic and vocational success, these individuals experience mood disorders at higher rates than the general population ( Lugnegard et al. Individuals with ‘less-severe’ ASD (e.g., what was previously diagnosed as Asperger’s syndrome), can be very high functioning with often well above-average IQs ( Helles e al. ASD has been extensively studied in the context of social functioning and, as is suggested by the name, this disorder can manifest within individuals across a broad spectrum of severity levels ( Gotham et al. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by social impairments, including abnormal communication and restricted interests ( APA 2013).

Flat affect aspergers