Brief Report: Social Anxiety in Autism Spectrum Disorder is Based on Deficits in Social Competence.
J Espelöer, M Hellmich, K Vogeley and 1 others
PMID 32410100WHAT IT FOUND
High-functioning adults with autism reported social anxiety levels comparable to those with social anxiety disorder, but showed significantly greater deficits in social competence and information processing.
This suggests autistic social anxiety stems from fundamental social skill deficits rather than fear of negative evaluation alone.
Key findings
01Social anxiety scores (speaking and rejection subscales) were not significantly different between the autism and social anxiety disorder groups, though both were clinically elevated.
02The autism group had significantly higher scores for interaction deficits and processing social information deficits compared to the social anxiety disorder group.
03Intolerance of uncertainty was significantly higher in the autism group compared to non-clinical controls.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study used a cross-sectional design, so it cannot determine causality or whether social competence deficits lead to anxiety or vice versa. The SAD group was a reference group from a manual, not recruited concurrently, which may introduce selection bias. The groups were not matched on gender, and gender was only controlled for statistically as a covariate. The sample size for the ASD group was relatively small (n=23).
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that social anxiety in autism is identical to social anxiety disorder. While anxiety scores were similar, the underlying mechanism in autism appears linked to fundamental social competence deficits and intolerance of uncertainty, requiring different therapeutic approaches.