Anxiety Sensitivity Domains are Differently Affected by Social and Non-social Autistic Traits.
Chiara Baiano, Gennaro Raimo, Isa Zappullo and 4 others
PMID 34374915WHAT IT FOUND
University students with more social autistic traits reported more fear of anxiety symptoms, especially worries about mental control and being judged.
Attention to detail traits were not linked to anxiety sensitivity. This was a questionnaire study, not a treatment trial.
Key findings
01Higher social autistic traits were linked to higher overall anxiety sensitivity and higher cognitive and social anxiety concerns, but not physical concerns.
02Attention-to-detail non-social autistic traits were not linked to anxiety sensitivity or depression.
03Sex was linked to overall and cognitive anxiety sensitivity, but it did not change the link between social autistic traits and anxiety sensitivity.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The sample was university students without neurological or neurodevelopmental conditions and without clinically relevant psychopathology, so it does not show what happens in diagnosed autism or anxiety disorders. The study used self-report questionnaires and did not test an intervention, so it cannot show treatment effects. The results relied on a two-factor AQ model, and the authors note other AQ factor models have been proposed. The authors did not test anxiety related to routines or restricted and repetitive behaviours, which some literature links to autism. No predictor specifically predicted depression scores, so the study does not support a link between autistic traits and depressive symptoms in this sample.
Declared interests
No funding or conflict of interest declaration is included in the supplied text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that autistic traits cause anxiety sensitivity or that this applies to diagnosed autism. The study used questionnaires in university students without neurological or neurodevelopmental conditions and without clinically relevant psychopathology, and it only tested associations.