Alexithymia, Inner Thinking Patterns, and Perceptions of Mental Health Therapy Strategies Among Autistic Adults.

Micah O Mazurek, Jessica Pappagianopoulos, Sophie Brunt, Michelle Menezes, Jessica V Smith, Mya Howard

Abstract read

In one paragraph

Article in Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

2citing 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

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

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.

Micah O MazurekDepartment of Human Services, School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia, 417 Emmet Street South, PO Box 400267, Charlottesville, VA, 22904, USA. mm5gt@virginia.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7715-6538

Jessica PappagianopoulosDepartment of Human Services, School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia, 417 Emmet Street South, PO Box 400267, Charlottesville, VA, 22904, USA.

Sophie BruntDepartment of Human Services, School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia, 417 Emmet Street South, PO Box 400267, Charlottesville, VA, 22904, USA.

Michelle MenezesChild Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.

Jessica V SmithDepartment of Human Services, School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia, 417 Emmet Street South, PO Box 400267, Charlottesville, VA, 22904, USA.

Mya HowardDepartment of Human Services, School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia, 417 Emmet Street South, PO Box 400267, Charlottesville, VA, 22904, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeAutistic adults are at high risk for mental health challenges, yet there has been limited research on mental health interventions for this population. Individual differences in how thoughts and emotions are perceived may directly relate to the success of specific therapy strategies. This study examined whether alexithymia and inner thinking patterns relate to helpfulness and ease of use of mental health therapy strategies among autistic adults.

methodParticipants (n = 269 autistic adults, ages 21-77) completed questionnaires assessing alexithymia, inner thinking patterns (i.e., self-talk, verbal thinking, visual thinking), and experiences with mental health therapy strategies. Ordinal logistic regressions were used to examine associations between alexithymia, inner thinking, and perceived helpfulness and ease of use of therapy strategies.

resultsAutistic adults with greater alexithymia found cognitive strategies more difficult to use, while those with greater frequency of self-talk found them easier to use. By contrast, autistic adults with greater visual thinking found guided imagery strategies easier to use. There were no associations between alexithymia or inner thinking and perceived helpfulness or ease of use of behavioral strategies (exposure, behavioral activation), mind-body relaxation strategies (deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation), or mindfulness meditation.

conclusionsThe findings suggest that some mental health strategies may be more difficult to implement for some autistic adults, depending on individual thinking profiles. However, alexithymia and inner thinking patterns were unrelated to the perceived helpfulness of mental health strategies. Overall, this highlights the importance of providing individualized supports and accommodations to optimize mental health therapy for autistic adults.

Indexed as

Affective SymptomsAutistic DisorderPsychotherapyThinkingAdultAgedFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedSurveys and QuestionnairesYoung AdultAutismInner speechMental healthSelf-talkTherapyVisual thinking

Identifiers

PMID39549208

DOI10.1007/s10803-024-06643-5

PMCPMC12987798

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata

LicenceCC BY

Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.