ArticleFrontiers in psychology2018
Alexithymia and Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Complex Relationship.
Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 69 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
69 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Alexithymia in neurodevelopmental populations: a scoping review of Down syndrome, autism spectrum disorder, and dual diagnosis.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Pooled it
- Emotional self-awareness in autism: A meta-analysis of group differences and developmental effects.Autism : the international journal of research and practice · 2021Pooled it
- A Scientometric Review of Alexithymia: Mapping Thematic and Disciplinary Shifts in Half a Century of Research.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2020Pooled it
- Oxytocin facilitates top-down and bottom-up attention to emotional faces in a general and temporal-dependent manner.Psychological medicine · 2026Trial
- Self-guided mindfulness and cognitive behavioural practices reduce anxiety in autistic adults: A pilot 8-month waitlist-controlled trial of widely available online tools.Autism : the international journal of research and practice · 2020Trial
- Beyond the Outburst: Charting a New Frontier for Understanding and Treating Irritability in Autistic Adults.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2026Review
- The Externally Oriented Thinking Facet of Alexithymia Mediates the Negative Association of ASD Symptoms With Cognitive and Emotional Empathy.Scandinavian journal of psychology · 2026Article
- "I Feel Like They Were Made in a Very Neurotypical World": Autistic Adult Experiences and Perceptions of Social Rules, Instruction, and Laws.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Article
- User experiences of the mobile stress autism mate (SAM) application: a qualitative study among autistic adults not receiving mental health care.Health psychology and behavioral medicine · 2026Article
- Balancing Cognitive Flexibility and Stability: The Role of Reward, Autism, and Transdiagnostic Traits.Journal of cognition · 2026Article
- Autistic Adult Online Interoception Feasibility Pilot Program.Occupational therapy international · 2026Article
- Affective abstraction predicts variation in alexithymia, depression, and autism spectrum quotient.Emotion (Washington, D.C.) · 2025Article
- Co-occurring functional neurological disorder and autism: an exploratory study of comorbidities in a retrospective cohort study using TriNetX.Journal of neurology · 2025Article
- Exploring the Broader Autism Phenotype: How Alexithymia Impacts Recognition of Facial Expressions of Pain.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2025Article
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy in Autism.Current psychiatry reports · 2025Review
- Slow but Steady: Similarities and Differences in Executive Functioning Between Autistic and Non-Autistic Adults.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2025Article
- Perceived changes in mental health and social engagement attributed to a single psychedelic experience in autistic adults: results from an online survey.Psychopharmacology · 2025Article
- Emotional wellbeing in neurodivergent populations.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- A Preliminary Evaluation of the Feasibility and Efficacy of Mantra-Like Phrase Recitation in Improving Mental Health in Autistic Adults.Advances in neurodevelopmental disorders · 2024Article
- Neurodivergence, intersectionality, and eating disorders: a lived experience-led narrative review.Journal of eating disorders · 2024Review
9 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Alexithymia is a personality construct characterized by altered emotional awareness which has been gaining diagnostic prevalence in a range of neuropsychiatric disorders, with notably high rates of overlap with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, the nature of its role in ASD symptomatology remains elusive. Here, we distill research at the intersection of alexithymia and ASD. After a brief synopsis of the studies that plaid a pioneering role in the identification of the overlapping fields between alexithymia and ASD, we comb the literature for evidence of its overlap with ASD in terms of prevalence, etiology, and behaviors. Through a formalized framework of the process of emotional interpretation and expression, we explore evidence for where and how deficits arise in this complex network of events. We portray how these relate to the dynamic interplay between alexithymic and autistic traits and find emerging evidence that alexithymia is both a cause and consequence of autistic behaviors. We end with a strategic proposal for future research and interventions to dampen the impacts of alexithymia in ASD.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.