ArticleFrontiers in psychology2021
Sensory Sensitivity and Intolerance of Uncertainty Influence Anxiety in Autistic Adults.
Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Anxiety and autistic traits in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Exploring the landscape of adult autism research in psychology: a bibliometric and network analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Pooled it
- Sleep Problems and Mental Health in Middle-Aged and Older Autistic and Non-Autistic Adults.International journal of geriatric psychiatry · 2026Article
- Early sensory differences in toddlers at elevated likelihood for autism and association with later autistic traits: a prospective cohort study.BMC psychiatry · 2026Article
- Spatiotemporal brain-state dynamics delineate executive function subtypes in school-aged autism: evidence from co-activation patterns and a four-year follow-up.Molecular autism · 2026Article
- Autism related traits and anxiety in the general population are linked through intolerance of uncertainty and affect labeling.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- μ Opioid Modulation of Sensorimotor Functional Connectivity in Autism: Insights From a Pharmacological Neuroimaging Investigation Using Tianeptine.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2026Article
- Intolerance of uncertainty in adolescents with and without social communication disorder: group and gender differences.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Traumatic Experiences, Psychological Distress and Suicide-Related Behaviors in Autistic Adults.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2026Article
- A Trans-Diagnostic Investigation of Attention and Diverse Phenotypes of "Auditory Hyperreactivity" in Autism, ADHD, and the General Population.Journal of attention disorders · 2026Article
- A Systematic Review of Autistic Adults' Experiences of Anxiety From a Qualitative Perspective.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2025Article
- The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the well-being of autistic and non-autistic adults in Eastern Germany.BMC psychiatry · 2025Article
- Intolerance of Uncertainty Mediates the Relationship Between Autistic Traits and a Propensity for Deliberation.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2025Article
- Behavioral and neural interrelationships of sensory difficulties, intolerance of uncertainty, and anxiety in autistic children.Research in autism · 2025Article
- Auditory environments influence the link between Autistic traits and quality of life.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Sensory Processing and Anxiety: Within and Beyond the Autism Spectrum.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2025Review
- How auditory processing influences the autistic profile: A review.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2024Review
- Autistic Sensory Traits and Psychological Distress: Mediating Role of Worry and Intolerance of Uncertainty.Brain sciences · 2024Article
- Autistic traits linked to anxiety and dichotomous thinking: sensory sensitivity and intolerance of uncertainty as mediators in non-clinical population.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Examining a model of anxiety in autistic adults.Autism : the international journal of research and practice · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Several models of anxiety in autistic adults have focused on the role of intolerance of uncertainty which has biological and evolutionary bases, as a cognitive explanation for the high prevalence of anxiety in autism. This framework suggests that all people are born with a healthy level of intolerance of uncertainty, and as we develop, this intolerance is lessened as we learn when situations are safe and begin to understand and manage the uncertainty. This process of learning about managing uncertainty does not happen in the same way in those who are high in autistic traits, which could be the reason for the high levels of anxiety symptoms commonly seen in this population. We examined archival data of 199 non-autistic and 55 autistic adults from prior studies in which we collected self-report measures of autistic traits, intolerance of uncertainty, sensory processing, and anxiety. We conducted two path analyses to examine the role of intolerance of uncertainty in anxiety in autistic adults. The first model tested the idea that intolerance of uncertainty, an evolutionary phenomenon common for all people, could explain some of the cognitive aspects of anxiety in autism. The second model suggests that primary neurodevelopmental differences associated with autistic traits underlie the sensory sensitivity and sensory seeking behaviors, which in turn increase intolerance of uncertainty and subsequent anxiety. We found that the "neurodevelopmental" model had better model fit than the "evolutionary stress" model, suggesting that the neurodevelopmental impact of higher levels of autistic traits could moderate a non-autistic trajectory of learning to manage uncertainty as children develop and understand that uncertainty is common and acceptable.
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