Top

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

Gepubliceerd in:

06-03-2017 | Original Paper

Expressive Incoherence and Alexithymia in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Auteurs: Andreia P. Costa, Georges Steffgen, Andrea C. Samson

Gepubliceerd in: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders | Uitgave 6/2017

Abstract

Expressive incoherence can be implicated in socio-emotional communicative problems in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The present study examined expressive incoherence in 37 children with ASD and 41 typically developing (TD) children aged 3–13 years old during a frustration task. The role of alexithymia in expressive incoherence was also assessed. Compared to TD children, children with ASD had higher expressive incoherence, such as more neutral and positive emotion expressions during negative behaviors, but not in the expression of negative emotions during positive behaviors. Further analyses revealed that alexithymia moderated the expressions of positive emotions during negative behaviors. These results suggest that children with ASD may benefit from interventions targeting alexithymia to increase emotional coherence, which may improve socio-emotional communication.

vorige artikel Daily Couple Experiences and Parent Affect in Families of Children with Versus Without Autism

volgende artikel Association of Rigid-Compulsive Behavior with Functional Constipation in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Alleen toegankelijk voor geautoriseerde gebruikers

Among the 37 children diagnosed with ASD 20 had been previously diagnosed with low-functioning ASD (3 female) and 17 had been previously diagnosed with high-functioning ASD (2 female). Children in the low-functioning ASD group had either intellectual or language delays, or both, and attended special education schools. Children in the high-functioning group did not have any intellectual or language delays and attended regular schools. Analyses comparing children with low-functioning ASD and high-functioning ASD were carried out (see Online Resources 1 through 3) and confirmed that children who were previously diagnosed with low-functioning ASD did not differ from children who were previously diagnosed with high-functioning ASD in a way that would affect the interpretation of the results.

Alter, A. L., & Oppenheimer, D. M. (2009). Uniting the tribes of fluency to form a metacognitive nation. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 13(3), 219–235. doi:10.1177/1088868309341564.CrossRefPubMed

Asperger, H. (1944). Die autistischen Psychopathen im Kindesalter. Archiv für Psychiatrie und Nervenkrankheiten, 117. In 76–136. ( U. Frith, Trans.) In U. Frith (Ed.), (1991) Autism and Asperger Syndrome (pp. 37–92). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1007/BF01837709.

Barrett, L. F. (2006). Are emotions natural kinds? Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1(1), 28–58. doi:10.1111/j.1745-6916.2006.00003.x.CrossRefPubMed

Begeer, S. (2005). Social and emotional skills and understanding of children with autism spectrum disorder (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from: http://www.ara.vu.nl/fileadmin/user_upload/publications/Social_and_emotional_skills_and_understanding_of_children_with_ASD.pdf.

Berthoz, S., & Hill, E. L. (2005). The validity of using self-reports to assess emotion regulation abilities in adults with autism spectrum disorder. European Psychiatry, 20(3), 291–298. doi:10.1016/j.eurpsy.2004.06.013.CrossRefPubMed

Bieberich, A. A., & Morgan, S. B. (2004). Self-regulation and affective expression during play in children with autism or Down Syndrome: A short-term longitudinal study. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 34(4), 439–448. doi:10.1023/B:JADD.0000037420.16169.28.CrossRefPubMed

Bird, G., Press, C., & Richardson, D. C (2011). The role of alexithymia in reduced eye-fixation in autism spectrum conditions. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 41(11), 1556–1564. doi:10.1007/s10803-011-1183-3.CrossRefPubMed

Bird, G., Silani, G., Brindley, R., White, S., Frith, U., & Singer, T. (2010). Empathic brain responses in insula are modulated by levels of alexithymia but not autism. Brain, 133, 1515–1525. doi:10.1093/brain/awq060.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Brewer, R., Biotti, F., Catmur, C., Press, C., Happé, F., Cook, R., & Bird, G (2016). Can neurotypical individuals read autistic facial expressions? Atypical production of emotional facial expression in autism spectrum disorders. Autism Research, 9(2), 262–271. doi:10.1002/aur.1508.CrossRefPubMed

Buck, R. (1980). Nonverbal behavior and the theory of emotion: The facial feedback hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38(5), 811–824. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.38.5.811.CrossRefPubMed

Cacioppo, J. T., Uchino, B. N., Crites, S. L., Snydersmith, M. A., Smith, G., Berntson, G. G., & Lang, P. J. (1992). Relationship between facial expressiveness and sympathetic activation in emotion: A critical review, with emphasis on modelling underlying mechanisms and individual differences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62(1), 110–128. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.62.1.110.CrossRefPubMed

Centerbar, D. B., Clore, G. L., Schnall, S., & Garvin, E. (2008). Affective incoherence: When affective concepts and embodied reactions clash. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94(4), 560–578. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.94.4.560.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Chaplin, T. M. (2015). Gender and emotion expression: A developmental contextual perspective. Emotion Review, 7(1), 14–21. doi:10.1177/1754073914544408.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Cook, R., Brewer, R., Shah, P., & Bird, G. (2013). Alexithymia, not autism, predicts poor recognition of emotional facial expressions. Psychological Science, 24(5), 723–732. doi:10.1177/0956797612463582.CrossRefPubMed

Dawson, G., Hill, D., Spencer, A., Galpert, L., & Watson, L. (1990). Affective exchanges between young autistic children and their mothers. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 18(3), 335–345. doi:10.1007/BF00916569.CrossRefPubMed

Duckworth, K. L., Bargh, J. A., Garcia, M., & Chaiken, S. (2002). The automatic evaluation of novel stimuli. Psychological Science, 13(6), 513–519. doi:10.1111/1467-9280.00490.CrossRefPubMed

Ekman, P. (1992). Are there basic emotions? Psychological Review, 99(3), 550–553. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.99.3.550.CrossRefPubMed

Ekman, P. (1993). Facial expression and emotion. American Psychologist, 48(4), 376–379. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.48.4.384.CrossRef

Ekman, P., & Friesen, W. (1975). Unmasking the face: A guide to recognizing emotions from facial cues. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Ekman, P., & Friesen, W. (1978). Facial Action Coding System: A technique for the measurement of facial movement. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.

Ekman, P., Levenson, R. W., & Friesen, W. V. (1983). Autonomic nervous system activity distinguishes among emotions. Science, 221(4616), 1208–1210. doi:10.1126/science.6612338.CrossRefPubMed

Evers, C., Hopp, H., Gross, J. J., Fischer, A. H., Manstead, A. S. R., & Mauss, I. B. (2014). Emotion response coherence: A dual-process perspective. Biological Psychology, 98, 43–49. doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2013.11.003.CrossRefPubMed

Faso, D. J., Sasson, N. J., & Pinkham, A. E. (2015). Evaluating posed and evoked facial expressions of emotion from adults with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 45(1), 75–89. doi:10.1007/s10803-014-2194-7.CrossRefPubMed

Feng, X., Shaw, D. S., Kovacs, M., Lane, T., O’Rourke, F. E., & Alarcon, H. (2008). Emotion regulation in preschoolers: The roles of behavioral inhibition, maternal affective behavior, and maternal depression. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49(2), 132–141. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01828.x.PubMed

Fernandez-Dols, J.-M., Sanchez, F., Carrera, P., & Ruiz-Belda, M.-A. (1997). Are spontaneous expressions and emotions linked? An experimental test of coherence. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 21(3), 163–177. doi:10.1023/A:1024917530100.CrossRef

Friesen, W., & Ekman, P. (1983). EMFACS-7: Emotional Facial Action Coding System. Unpublished manual. California: University of California.

Goldsmith, H. H., & Rothbart, M. K. (1999). Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery: Locomotor version 3.1. Unpublished manuscript.

Grandey, A. A. (2003). When “the show must go on”: Surface acting and deep acting as determinants of emotional exhaustion and peer-rated service delivery. Academy of Management Journal, 46(1), 86–96. doi:10.2307/30040678.CrossRef

Griffin, C., Lombardo, M. V., & Auyeung, B. (2015). Alexithymia in children with and without autism spectrum disorders. Autism Research, 1–8. doi:10.1002/aur.1569.

Grolnick, W. S., Bridges, L. J., & Connell, J. P. (1996). Emotion regulation in two-year-olds: Strategies and emotional expression in four contexts. Child Development, 67(3), 928–941. doi:10.2307/1131871.CrossRefPubMed

Grossman, R. B., Edelson, L. R., & Tager-Flusberg, H. (2013). Production of emotional facial and vocal expressions during story retelling by children and adolescents with high-functioning autism. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 56(3), 1035–1044. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2012/12-0067).CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Grynberg, D., Chang, B., Corneille, O., Maurage, P., Vermeulen, N., Berthoz, S., & Luminet, O. (2012). Alexithymia and the processing of emotional facial expressions (EFEs): Systematic review, unanswered questions and further perspectives. PLoS ONE, 7(8), e42429. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0042429.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Guttman, H., & Laporte, L. (2002). Alexithymia, empathy, and psychological symptoms in a family context. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 43(6), 448–455. doi:10.1053/comp.2002.35905.CrossRefPubMed

Helt, M. S., & Fein, D. A. (2016). Facial feedback and social input: Effects of laughter and enjoyment in children with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 46(1), 83–94. doi:10.1007/s10803-015-2545-z.CrossRefPubMed

Huang, L., & Galinsky, A. D. (2011). Mind-body dissonance: Conflict between the senses expands the mind’s horizons. Social Psychology and Personality Science, 2(4), 351–359. doi:10.1177/1948550610391677.CrossRef

Hudenko, W. J., & Magenheimer, M. A. (2012). Listeners prefer the laughs of children with autism to those of typically developing children. Autism, 16(6), 641–655. doi:10.1177/1362361311402856.CrossRefPubMed

Izard, C. E. (1977). Human emotions. New York: Plenum. doi:10.1007/978-1-4899-2209-0.CrossRef

Izard, C. E. (1990). Facial expressions and the regulation of emotions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58(3), 487–498. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.58.3.487.CrossRefPubMed

Izard, C. E., & Malatesta, C. Z. (1987). Perspectives on emotional development: 1. Differential emotions theory of early emotional development. In J. D. Osofsky (Ed.), Handbook of infant development (2nd edn., pp. 494–554). New York: Wiley.

John, O. P., & Gross, J. J. (2004). Healthy and unhealthy emotion regulation: Personality processes, individual differences and life span development. Journal of Personality, 72(6), 1301–1333. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2004.00298.x.CrossRefPubMed

Kanner, L. (1968). Autistic disturbances of affective contact. Acta Paedopsychiatrica, 35(4), 100–136.PubMed

Kasari, C., Sigman, M., Mundy, P., & Yirmyia, N. (1990). Affective sharing in the context of joint attention interactions of normal, autistic, and mentally retarded children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 20(1), 87–100. doi:10.1007/BF02206859.CrossRefPubMed

Kätsyri, J., Saalasti, S., Tiippana, K., von Wendt, L., & Sams, M. (2008). Impaired recognition of facial emotions from low-spatial frequencies in Asperger syndrome. Neuropsychologia, 46(7), 1888–1897. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2008.01.005.CrossRefPubMed

Konstantareas, M. M., & Stewart, K. (2006). Affect regulation and temperament in children with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 36(2), 143–154. doi:10.1007/s10803-005-0051-4.CrossRefPubMed

Kraut, R. E., & Johnston, R. E. (1979). Social and emotional messages of smiling: An ethological approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37(9), 1539–1553. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.37.9.1539.CrossRef

Laird, J. D. (1974). Self-attribution of emotion: The effects of expressive behavior on the quality of emotional experience. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 29(4), 475–486. doi:10.1037/h0036125.CrossRefPubMed

Lane, R. D., Sechrest, L., Reidel, R., Weldon, V., Kasznial, A., & Schwartz, G. E. (1996). Impaired verbal and nonverbal emotion recognition in alexithymia. Psychosomatic Medicine, 58(3), 203–210. doi:10.1097/00006842-199605000-00002.CrossRefPubMed

Lanzetta, J. T., & Kleck, R. E. (1970). Encoding and decoding of nonverbal affect in humans. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 16(1), 12–19. doi:10.1037/h0029850.CrossRefPubMed

Lazarus, R. S. (1991). Emotion and adaptation. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Legiša, J., Messinger, D. S., Kermol, E., & Marlier, L. (2013). Emotional responses to odors in children with high-functioning autism: Autonomic arousal, facial behavior and self-report. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 43(4), 869–879. doi:10.1007/s10803-012-1629-2.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Levenson, R. W. (1994). Human emotion: A functional view. In P. Ekman, &amp, J. R & Davidson (Eds.), The nature of emotion: Fundamental questions (pp. 123–126). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Malatesta, C. Z. (1981). Infant emotions and the vocal affect lexicon. Motivation and Emotion, 5(1), 1–23. doi:10.1007/BF00993658.CrossRef

Malatesta, C. Z., Clayton, C., Tesman, J. R., Shepard, B., Fogel, A., Reimers, M., & Zivin, G. (1989). The development of emotion expression during the first two years of life. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 54(1–2), 1–136. doi:10.2307/1166153.PubMed

Mauss, I. B., Levenson, R. W., McCarter, L., Wilhelm, F. H., & Gross, J. J. (2005). The tie that binds? Coherence among emotion experience, behavior, and physiology. Emotion (Washington, D. C.), 5(2), 175–190. doi:10.1037/1528-3542.5.2.175.CrossRef

McGee, G. G., Feldman, R. S., & Chernin, L. (1991). A comparison of emotional facial display by children with autism and typical preschoolers. Journal of Early Intervention, 15(3), 237–245. doi:10.1177/105381519101500303.CrossRef

Nemiah, J. C., Freyberger, H., & Sifneos, P. E. (1976). Alexithymia: A view of the psychosomatic process. In O. W. Hill (Ed.), Modern trends in psychosomatic medicine (pp. 430–439). London: Butterworths.

Niedenthal, P. M. (2007). Embodying emotion. Science, 316(5827), 1002–1005. doi:10.1126/science.1136930.CrossRefPubMed

Nuske, H. J., Vivanti, G., & Dissanayake, C. (2013). Are emotion impairments unique to, universal, or specific in autism spectrum disorder? A comprehensive review. Cognition and Emotion, 27(6), 1042–1061. doi:10.1080/02699931.2012.762900.CrossRefPubMed

Parker, J. D. A., Taylor, G. J., & Bagby, R. M. (1993). Alexithymia and the recognition of facial expressions of emotion. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 59(3–4), 197–202. doi:10.1159/000288664.CrossRefPubMed

Prkachin, G. L., Casey, C., & Prkachin, K. M. (2009). Alexithymia and perception of facial expressions of emotion. Personality and Individual Differences, 46(4), 412–417. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2008.11.010.CrossRef

Rieffe, C., Meerum Terwogt, M., & Kotronopoulou, C. (2007). Awareness of single and multiple emotions in high-functioning children with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37(3), 455–465. doi:10.1007/s10803-006-0171-5.CrossRefPubMed

Rieffe, C., Oosterveld, P., & Meerum Terwogt, M. (2006). An alexithymia questionnaire for children: Factorial and concurrent validation results. Personality and Individual Differences, 40(1), 123–133. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2005.05.013.CrossRef

Rosenberg, E. L., & Ekman, P. (1994). Coherence between expressive and experiential systems in emotion. Cognition and Emotion, 8(3), 201–229. doi:10.1080/02699939408408938.CrossRef

Samson, A. C., Huber, O., & Gross, J. J. (2012). Emotion regulation in Asperger’s syndrome and high-functioning autism. Emotion (Washington, D. C.), 12(4), 659–665. doi:10.1037/a0027975.CrossRef

Sendzik, L., Schäfer, J. Ö., Samson, A. C., Naumann, E., & Tuschen-Caffier, B. (2017). Emotional awareness in depressive and anxiety symptoms in youth: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. doi:10.1007/s10964-017-0629-0.PubMed

Sifneos, P. E. (1973). The prevalence of ‘alexithymic’ characteristics in psychosomatic patients. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 22(2), 255–262. doi:10.1159/000286529.CrossRefPubMed

Stepper, S., & Strack, F. (1993). Proprioceptive determinants of emotional and nonemotional feelings. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64(2), 211–220. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.64.2.211.CrossRef

Sze, J. A., Gyurak, A., Yuan, J. W., & Levenson, R. W. (2010). Coherence between emotional experience and physiology: Does body awareness training have an impact? Emotion (Washington, D. C.), 10(6), 803–814. doi:10.1037/a0020146.CrossRef

Taylor, G. J., Bagby, R. M., & Parker, D. A. (1997). Disorders of Affect Regulation. Alexithymia in Medical and Psychiatric Illness. New York: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511526831.CrossRef

Tomkins, S. S. (1962). Affect, imagery, consciousness: I. The positive affects. Oxford: Springer.

Volker, M. A., Lopata, C., Smith, D. A., & Thomeer, M. L. (2009). Facial encoding of children with high-function autism spectrum disorders. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 24(4), 195–204. doi:10.1177/1088357609347325.CrossRef

Weinberg, M. K., & Tronik, E. Z. (1994). Beyond the face: An empirical study of infant affective configurations of facial, vocal, gestural, and regulatory behaviors. Child Development, 65(5), 1503–1515. doi:10.2307/1131514.CrossRefPubMed

Weiss, E. M., Gschaidbauer, B. C., Samson, A. C., Steinbäcker, K., Fink, A., & Papousek, I. (2013). From Ice Age to Madagascar: Appreciation of slapstick humor in children with Asperger’s syndrome. Humor, 26(3), 423–440. doi:10.1515/humor-2013-0029.CrossRef

Yirmiya, N., Kasari, C., Sigman, M., & Mundy, P. (1989). Facial expressions of affect in autistic, mentally retarded and normal children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines, 30(5), 725–735. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.1989.tb00785.x.CrossRefPubMed

Titel: Expressive Incoherence and Alexithymia in Autism Spectrum Disorder
Auteurs: Andreia P. Costa
Georges Steffgen
Andrea C. Samson
Publicatiedatum: 06-03-2017
Uitgeverij: Springer US
Gepubliceerd in: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders / Uitgave 6/2017
Print ISSN: 0162-3257
Elektronisch ISSN: 1573-3432
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-017-3073-9

Bohn Stafleu van Loghum

Deel dit onderdeel of sectie (kopieer de link)

Abstract

Log in om toegang te krijgen

Andere artikelen Uitgave 6/2017

Comparative Effects of Mindfulness and Support and Information Group Interventions for Parents of Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Other Developmental Disabilities

Child and Adult Factors Related to Quality of Life in Adults with Autism

A Pilot Study of a Behavioral Parent Training in the Republic of Macedonia

Caregiver-Teacher Concordance of Challenging Behaviors in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Served in Community Mental Health Settings

Psychometric Properties of the Autism-Spectrum Quotient for Assessing Low and High Levels of Autistic Traits in College Students

Brief Report: Sexual Attraction and Relationships in Adolescents with Autism