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Interrupted Time Experience in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Empirical Evidence from Content Analysis

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Abstract

Although the experience of time is of central relevance for psychopathology, qualitative approaches to study the inner experience of time have been largely neglected in autism research. We present results from qualitative data acquired from 26 adults with high functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Employing inductive content analysis we identified a distinct pattern of interrupted time experience in ASD. Individuals with ASD seemed to implement structured and routine behavior by future planning to guarantee that the present passed uninterrupted. We reason that the success of corresponding compensatory mechanisms determines the development of distress and noticeable symptoms. Considering recent theories on Bayesian perceptual inference we relate the syndrome of interrupted time experience to the putative neuronal mechanisms underlying time experience.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Cologne, Kerpener Strasse 62, 50937, Cologne, Germany

    David Vogel, Theresa Schoofs, Katharina Krämer & Kai Vogeley

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Medical Faculty, LMU Munich, Nußbaumstr. 7, 80336, Munich, Germany

    Christine M. Falter-Wagner

  3. Institute of Medical Psychology, Medical Faculty, LMU Munich, Goethestr. 31, 80336, Munich, Germany

    Christine M. Falter-Wagner

  4. Department of Psychology, University of Cologne, Gronewaldstraße 2, 50931, Cologne, Germany

    Christine M. Falter-Wagner

  5. Department of Psychiatry, Society for Philosophy and Sciences of the Psyche, Charité, Humboldt-University Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Christian Kupke

  6. Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine, Cognitive Neuroscience (INM-3), Research Centre Juelich, 52425, Juelich, Germany

    Kai Vogeley

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  1. David Vogel
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  2. Christine M. Falter-Wagner
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  3. Theresa Schoofs
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  4. Katharina Krämer
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  5. Christian Kupke
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  6. Kai Vogeley
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Contributions

DV contributes to conceptualization, data curation, investigation, qualitative analysis, coding and intercoding, statistical analysis, writing—original draft, review and editing. CK contributes to conceptualization, resources, writing—review and editing. KV contributes to conceptualization, supervision, resources, writing—review and editing. KK contributes to coding and intercoding. TS contributes to coding and intercoding. CMF-W contributes to resources, writing—review and editing.

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Correspondence to David Vogel.

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All procedures performed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Vogel, D., Falter-Wagner, C.M., Schoofs, T. et al. Interrupted Time Experience in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Empirical Evidence from Content Analysis. J Autism Dev Disord 49, 22–33 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-018-3771-y

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