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Emotion Dysregulation and Anxiety in Adults with ASD: Does Social Motivation Play a Role?

  • S.I. : ASD in Adulthood: Comorbidity and Intervention
  • Published:
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Abstract

Young adults with ASD and no intellectual impairment are more likely to exhibit clinical levels of anxiety than typically developing peers (DSM-5, American Psychiatric Association, 2013). This study tests a mechanistic model in which anxiety culminates via emotion dysregulation and social motivation. Adults with ASD (49 males, 20 females) completed self-report measures on emotion regulation, caregivers completed measures on ASD severity and both on social anxiety. Results indicated that emotion dysregulation (p < .001; p < .05) and social motivation (p < .05, p < .001) significantly predicted social anxiety as reported by caregivers and young adults respectively. However, social motivation did not appear to play a moderating role in the relationship between emotion regulation and anxiety, even when controlling for social awareness. Significant predictor variables of social anxiety varied based on reporter (i.e. caregiver versus young adult), with difficulty engaging in goal-directed behaviors during negative emotions serving as the only shared predictor.

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Notes

  1. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were run to test a possible curvilinear relationship between social motivation and social anxiety and yielded insignificant results.

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Author Contributions

DS cleaned and analyzed the data, wrote the results and discussion sections and synthesized the individual parts. AS contributed primarily to writing. SWW contributed to theory development, data analysis guidance and wrote a portion of the introduction. EL collected the data and contributed to writing the methods section.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology (MC 0436), Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 109 Williams Hall, Virginia Tech, 890 Drillfield Drive, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA

    Deanna Swain, Angela Scarpa & Susan White

  2. University of California in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Elizabeth Laugeson

Authors
  1. Deanna Swain
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  2. Angela Scarpa
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  3. Susan White
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  4. Elizabeth Laugeson
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Correspondence to Deanna Swain.

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Swain, D., Scarpa, A., White, S. et al. Emotion Dysregulation and Anxiety in Adults with ASD: Does Social Motivation Play a Role?. J Autism Dev Disord 45, 3971–3977 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2567-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2567-6

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