The role of emotion regulation and core autism symptoms in the experience of anxiety in autism.
Caitlin M Conner, Susan W White, Lawrence Scahill and 1 others
PMID 32050774WHAT IT FOUND
Emotion regulation problems were linked to higher parent-reported anxiety in young people with autism, in a sample that included those with intellectual disability.
The study cannot show that regulation problems caused anxiety.
Key findings
01Higher caregiver-reported emotion regulation impairment was associated with higher parent-reported anxiety and with exceeding a clinical anxiety cutoff.
02Youth with elevated anxiety also had higher scores for social communication impairment, restricted and repetitive behaviors, and total autism symptoms.
03More severe autism symptoms did not strengthen the association between emotion regulation impairment and anxiety; no interaction effects were significant.
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 show whether emotion regulation problems caused anxiety, anxiety caused emotion regulation problems, or both arose from other factors. All data were parent-reported, so a single-informant bias may affect the associations. Autism diagnoses were community diagnoses and were not confirmed in the participants. Intellectual disability status was based on parent selection, not standardized testing. Respondents were self-selected and predominantly White and non-Hispanic/Latino, so results may not apply to all families. The paper reports 1,107 completed measures, but the elevated anxiety cutoff comparison reports 96 and 1,009 participants, so the analysed total for that result is not stated. The study did not use detailed language or cognitive testing to characterize minimally verbal or language-delayed youth.
Declared interests
The paper is marked as supported by NIH extramural research. No other funding or conflicts are stated.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that treating emotion regulation will reduce anxiety. This study only showed that parent-reported emotion regulation impairment was associated with higher parent-reported anxiety, and it did not test an intervention.