Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38240268›Full record

ArticleAutism : the international journal of research and practice2024

No association between alexithymia and emotion recognition or theory of mind in a sample of adolescents enhanced for autistic traits.

Georgianna Moraitopoulou, Hannah Pickard, Emily Simonoff, Andrew Pickles, Rachael Bedford, Virginia Carter Leno

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Georgianna MoraitopoulouSocial Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London, London, UK.
Hannah PickardDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London, London, UK.
Emily SimonoffDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-5450-0823
Andrew PicklesDepartment of Biostatistics and Health Informatics, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London, London, UK.
Rachael BedfordDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London, London, UK.
Virginia Carter LenoDepartment of Biostatistics and Health Informatics, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-7455-5514

Funding

Wellcome Trust
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

lay abstractAlexithymia is a sub-clinical condition characterised by difficulties identifying and describing one's own emotions, which is found in many, but not all autistic people. The alexithymia hypothesis suggests that certain aspects of socio-cognitive functioning typically attributed to autism, namely difficulties in emotion recognition, might be better explained by often co-occurring alexithymia. It is important to understand what is specific to autism and what is due to other co-occurring characteristics to develop appropriate support for autistic people. However, most research on this topic has been conducted in adults, which limits our knowledge about the relevance of this theory to younger autistic populations. This study tested whether difficulties in emotion recognition and theory of mind traditionally associated with autism might be better explained by alexithymia in a sample of adolescents with and without a diagnosis of autism. Results found that difficulties in emotion recognition and theory of mind were both associated with autistic traits, and this was not accounted for by individual differences in levels of alexithymia. This research suggests that more work is needed to understand the applicability of the alexithymia hypothesis in younger populations, but that at least in adolescents and when using parent-report measures, alexithymia may not account for emotion recognition or theory of mind difficulties associated with autistic traits.

Indexed as

Affective SymptomsEmotionsTheory of MindAdolescentAutistic DisorderCase-Control StudiesChildFemaleHumansMaleadolescencealexithymiaautismemotion recognitiontheory of mind

Identifiers

PMID38240268
PMCPMC11301953

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.