The biosocial correlates and predictors of emotion dysregulation in autistic adults compared to borderline personality disorder and nonclinical controls.
Doha Bemmouna, Amine Lagzouli, Luisa Weiner
PMID 38110995WHAT IT FOUND
Autistic adults reported higher emotion dysregulation than nonclinical controls, but lower than those with borderline personality disorder.
Across all groups, borderline traits, emotional vulnerability and difficulty identifying feelings were the strongest predictors of dysregulation, not autism-specific traits.
Key findings
01Autistic adults had significantly higher emotion dysregulation scores and rates of self-harm and suicidal behaviour than nonclinical controls, but lower than those with borderline personality disorder.
02Borderline personality traits, childhood emotional vulnerability and alexithymia were the strongest predictors of emotion dysregulation in both autistic and borderline personality disorder groups.
03Autistic women did not report higher emotion dysregulation than autistic men, despite having higher levels of anxiety, stress, sensory sensitivity and camouflaging.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot determine cause and effect. All data were self-reported, including diagnoses, which could not be verified. The sample was recruited online in France, which may limit generalisability. There was a high dropout rate of 51%, and the nonclinical control group had unexpectedly high rates of self-harm and suicidal behaviour. The groups differed in age, with the autistic group being older on average. The study did not assess the transactional relationship between biological vulnerability and invalidating environments as proposed by the biosocial model.
Declared interests
The study was funded by Fonds de Neuroglia. The authors declared no other conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that emotion dysregulation in autistic adults is driven primarily by autism-specific traits like sensory sensitivity or camouflaging. The study found that borderline personality traits, childhood emotional vulnerability and alexithymia were stronger predictors across groups, suggesting these transdiagnostic factors may be more relevant targets for intervention.