a Department of Human Ecology , University of California-Davis.
b UC Davis MIND Institute.
J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol. 2019 May-Jun;48(3):400-411. doi: 10.1080/15374416.2017.1381912. Epub 2017 Oct 19.
Self-esteem is a potent indicator of mental health in typically developing (TYP) individuals. It is surprising that there have been few comprehensive investigations of self-esteem in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), given that they are at high risk for comorbid mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety. The objectives of the current study were to assess how youth with ASD rate their self-esteem compared to age-matched TYP youth and to examine how self-esteem relates to internalizing psychopathology and theory of mind in the two groups. Seventy-three children and adolescents, ages 9 to 17, were administered a battery of questionnaires assessing self-esteem and internalizing symptoms, as well as tasks designed to measure theory of mind. Results indicated that youth with ASD rated their self-esteem significantly lower than did TYP youth. Self-esteem was strongly related to depression in both groups but was negatively related to theory of mind only for youth with ASD. These results may provide important insights into how individuals with ASD form evaluations of their own self-worth and illustrate how increasing self-awareness in individuals with ASD is not without risks.
自尊是典型发展个体心理健康的有力指标。令人惊讶的是，尽管自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童和青少年患合并性心理健康问题（如抑郁和焦虑）的风险很高，但对他们的自尊进行全面调查的却很少。本研究的目的是评估 ASD 青少年与年龄匹配的典型发展青少年相比如何评价自己的自尊，并探讨自尊与两组青少年内化性精神病理学和心理理论之间的关系。对 73 名 9 至 17 岁的儿童和青少年进行了一系列问卷评估，包括自尊和内化症状，以及旨在测量心理理论的任务。结果表明，ASD 青少年对自己的自尊评价明显低于典型发展青少年。在两组中，自尊与抑郁密切相关，但只有 ASD 青少年的自尊与心理理论呈负相关。这些结果可能为我们提供有关 ASD 个体如何形成自我价值感评价的重要见解，并说明如何在 ASD 个体中提高自我意识并非没有风险。
