Association between anger rumination and autism symptom severity, depression symptoms, aggression, and general dysregulation in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder.

The sample was small, with 25 adolescents with autism and 24 controls, and two participants were excluded from final analyses, so the results are preliminary. The study measured associations at one time point, so it cannot show that anger rumination causes depression, aggression, or dysregulation. Participants were verbal adolescents without intellectual disability, so findings may not apply to nonverbal adolescents or those with intellectual disability. Controls were selected to be free of psychiatric or learning diagnoses for a neuroimaging study, so they may be healthier than typical comparison groups. Most data were self-report, except autism symptom severity, so self-presentation bias is possible. Aggression scores were low and had a restricted range, which may explain the non-significant aggression finding. The sample included a mixture of participants with and without psychiatric comorbidity, so differences related to comorbidity were not tested.

Do not conclude that anger rumination causes depression or dysregulation, or that treating it will help. The study was cross-sectional, small, and did not test an intervention.