ERIC Number: EJ1460759
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Mar
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0162-3257
EISSN: EISSN-1573-3432
Available Date: 2024-03-04
Investigating the Effects of Transdiagnostic Processes on Anxiety and Depression Symptoms in Autistic Young People: The Mediating Role of Emotion Dysregulation
Georgina L. Barnes1; Ann Ozsivadjian2; Gillian Baird3; Michael Absoud3,4; Matthew J. Hollocks1,2
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, v55 n3 p969-980 2025
Internalising symptoms are elevated in autism compared to the general population. Few studies have investigated emotional dysregulation (ED) as a potential mediator between specific transdiagnostic processes and anxiety and depression symptoms in autistic youth. In a sample of 94 autistic young people aged 5-18 years referred to a specialist clinic for an autism evaluation, we tested the effects of ED as a mediator between cognitive inflexibility (CI), intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and alexithymia with anxiety and depression symptoms, using structural equation modelling. Effect sizes were compared to a non-autistic comparison group (n = 84). CI and alexithymia did not significantly predict depression symptoms in autistic young people, directly nor via ED. Relationships between CI/alexithymia and depression were fully mediated by ED in the non-autistic sample. There was a direct effect of CI on anxiety in the non-autistic group but not in those with a diagnosis. IU predicted depression symptoms in the autism group; and ED mediated this relationship only in those who did not receive a diagnosis. IU directly predicted anxiety in both groups and this relationship did not occur via ED. The finding of a direct pathway from IU to anxiety and depression in autistic youth is consistent with the literature. The finding that CI did not predict anxiety or depression in those with autism is novel, as was the finding that ED mediated relationships between alexithymia and anxiety/depression symptoms in both samples. The findings may have important implications for the delivery of psychological interventions for autistic youth.
Descriptors: Symptoms (Individual Disorders), Autism Spectrum Disorders, Anxiety, Depression (Psychology), Children, Adolescents, Emotional Response, Predictor Variables, Cognitive Processes, Correlation
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Bethlem Royal Hospital, London, UK; 2King’s College London, Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, London, UK; 3Evelina London Children’s Hospital, Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, Newcomen Centre, London, UK; 4King’s College London, Department of Women and Children’s Health, School of Life Course Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, London, UK