Levels of autistic traits in anorexia nervosa: a comparative psychometric study

Abstract

BackgroundA number of characteristics associated with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are over-represented among patients with Anorexia Nervosa (AN) as well as among relatives of these patients. Yet the co-occurrence of autistic traits in AN has not been fully explored and no previous study has directly compared self-reported evaluations of cognitive and socio-affective skills in AN and ASD.MethodsWe aimed to determine the degree of overlap between AN and ASD from scores on questionnaires classically used to measure ASD impairments. Fifteen AN participants, 15 ASD participants and two groups of matched controls completed a battery of self-reports measuring: autistic traits (Autism-Spectrum Quotient), empathy (Empathy Quotient-short and Interpersonal Reactivity Index), systemizing (Systemizing Quotient-short) and alexithymia (Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire-B). Univariate comparisons of mean totalled scores were performed on each measure (patients vs. controls, and AN vs. ASD), and a Principal Component Analysis was used to study subject proximities in a reduced-factor space constructed from AQ, BVAQ-B and IRI subscales.ResultsThese analyses revealed similarities in a few cognitive domains (Attention Switching, Perspective Taking and Fantasy, lack of emotional introspection) and in some nonspecific affective dimensions (depression and feelings of distress), but also marked dissimilarities in social skills (the ability to communicate emotions to others, empathizing).ConclusionThe AN and ASD participants reported similar needs for sameness, and similar difficulties understanding their emotions and taking the perspective of another, but contrasting abilities to feel concerned in interpersonal situations. Our mixed findings encourage further exploration of transdiagnostic similarities and associations between these disorders.

Exploring autistic traits in anorexia: a clinical study

“…Despite the literature described (for example, [14,20-22]), this is in accordance with a psychometric study reporting that both AN and ASC groups demonstrated a need for sameness; however, other core features of autism, such as difficulty empathizing, were not seen in the AN group [56]. …”

Emotion generation and regulation in anorexia nervosa: A systematic review and meta-analysis of self-report data

“…Taylor et al, 1988) to examine alexithymia in people with AN (Beales & Dolton, 2000;Berthoz, Perdereau, Godart, Corcos, & Haviland, 2007;Corcos et al, 2000;Deborde et al, 2007;De Panfilis, Rabbaglio, Rossi, Zita, & Maggini, 2003;Franzoni et al, 2013;Lawson et al, 2008;Marchesi, Ossola, Tonna, & De Panfilis, 2014;Torres et al, 2015; Appendix A for metaanalysis references). One study used the Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia questionnaire (Vorst & Bermond, 2001) which the authors report has a total score considered equivalent to that of the TAS (Courty et al, 2013). The TAS derives an overall score and three subscales difficulty identifying feelings, difficulty describing feelings, and externally oriented thinking.…”

Emotions mediate the relationship between autistic traits and disordered eating: A new autistic-emotional model for eating pathology

“…The findings of the studies using the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (Beadle et al, 2013;Calderoni et al, 2013) have been mainly inconclusive, with the study by Calderoni and colleagues (2013) revealing that AN patients reported less cognitive, but not affective empathy than controls, whereas the study by Beadle and colleagues (2013) found that AN patients demonstrated greater personal distress (a domain of affective empathy) compared to the controls. Of the few more recent studies Courty et al, 2013;Hambrook et al, 2008), that have utilized the EQ, only the study by Baron-Cohen and colleagues (2013) found that EQ scores were lower for AN patients compared to controls, however this finding was only obtained for the younger AN age group (aged 12 to 15 years).…”