Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Anna Watts Building, Radcliffe Observatory, Woodstock Rd, Oxford, OX2 6GG, UK.
Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, London, UK.
J Autism Dev Disord. 2022 May;52(5):2019-2034. doi: 10.1007/s10803-021-05094-6. Epub 2021 Jun 1.
Despite the heterogeneity in autism, socioemotional difficulties are often framed as universal. Increasing evidence, however, suggests that socioemotional difficulties may be explained by alexithymia, a distinct yet frequently co-occurring condition. If, as some propose, autistic traits are responsible for socioemotional impairments, then alexithymia may itself be a symptom of autism. We aimed to determine whether alexithymia should be considered a product of autism or regarded as a separate condition. Using factor-analytic and network approaches, we provide evidence that alexithymic and autistic traits are distinct. We argue that: (1) models of socioemotional processing in autism should conceptualise difficulties as intrinsic to alexithymia; and (2) assessment of alexithymia is crucial for diagnosis and personalised interventions.
尽管自闭症存在异质性，但社会情感困难通常被认为是普遍存在的。然而，越来越多的证据表明，社会情感困难可以用述情障碍来解释，述情障碍是一种独特但经常同时发生的情况。如果正如一些人所提出的，自闭症特征导致了社会情感障碍，那么述情障碍本身可能就是自闭症的一种症状。我们旨在确定述情障碍是否应被视为自闭症的产物，还是应被视为一种单独的情况。我们使用因子分析和网络方法，提供了证据表明述情障碍和自闭症特征是不同的。我们认为：（1）自闭症中社会情感处理的模型应将困难视为述情障碍的内在特征；（2）评估述情障碍对于诊断和个性化干预至关重要。
