The Role of Alexithymia in Reduced Eye-Fixation in Autism Spectrum Conditions

Eye-tracking studies have demonstrated mixed support for reduced eye fixation when looking at social scenes in individuals with Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC). We present evidence that these mixed findings are due to a separate condition—alexithymia—that is frequently comorbid with ASC. We find th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of autism and developmental disorders 2011-11, Vol.41 (11), p.1556-1564
Main Authors: Bird, Geoffrey, Press, Clare, Richardson, Daniel C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Adults
Affective Symptoms - psychology
Alexithymia
Autism
Autistic spectrum disorders
Behavioral Science and Psychology
Biological and medical sciences
Book publishing
Child
Child and School Psychology
Child clinical studies
Child Development Disorders, Pervasive - psychology
Cognitive Ability
Comorbidity
Correlation
Developmental disorders
Emotional Problems
Evidence
Eye fixation
Eye Movements
Facial Expression
Fear
Female
Fixation, Ocular
Humans
Infantile autism
Internet videos
Interpersonal Competence
Interpersonal Relationship
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Neurology
Neuropsychological Tests
Neurosciences
Original Paper
Pattern Recognition, Visual
Pediatrics
Pervasive Developmental Disorders
Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Public Health
Resistance (Psychology)
Schizophrenia
Severity
Severity (of Disability)
Social Cognition
Social Perception
Symptoms
Symptoms (Individual Disorders)
Verbal Communication
Video Technology
Visual Stimuli
Young Children
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Description
Summary:Eye-tracking studies have demonstrated mixed support for reduced eye fixation when looking at social scenes in individuals with Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC). We present evidence that these mixed findings are due to a separate condition—alexithymia—that is frequently comorbid with ASC. We find that in adults with ASC, autism symptom severity correlated negatively with attention to faces when watching video clips. However, only the degree of alexithymia, and not autism symptom severity, predicted eye fixation. As well as potentially resolving the contradictory evidence in this area, these findings suggest that individuals with ASC and alexithymia may form a sub-group of individuals with ASC, with emotional impairments in addition to the social impairments characteristic of ASC.
ISSN:0162-3257
1573-3432
DOI:10.1007/s10803-011-1183-3