Low Emotional Awareness as a Transdiagnostic Mechanism Underlying Psychopathology in Adolescence

Weissman, David G.; Nook, Erik C.; Dews, Aridenne A.; Miller, Adam Bryant; Lambert, Hilary K.; Sasse, Stephanie F.; Somerville, Leah H.; McLaughlin, Katie A.

doi:10.1177/2167702620923649

Cited by 53 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 115 publications

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“…Prior work on factors that confer vulnerability or protection to stress-related psychopathology have primarily focused on cognitive, neurobiological, and social factors (Alloy et al, 1999; Cheng et al, 2014; Cohen, 2004; Dennison et al, 2016; Hooley et al, 2009; Hooley & Gotlib, 2000; Nikolova et al, 2012; Russo et al, 2012; Swartz et al, 2015). However, recent studies have revealed that aspects of emotion understanding may shape stress responding and the development of psychopathology (Armstrong et al, 2011; Kranzler et al, 2016; Nook & Somerville, 2020; Southam-Gerow & Kendall, 2002; Weissman et al, 2020). Here, we extend this body of knowledge by showing that emotion differentiation in particular moderates the link between stress and internalizing problems in adolescence.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High Emotion Differentiation Buffers Against Internalizing Symptoms Following Exposure to Stressful Life Events in Adolescence: An Intensive Longitudinal Study

Nook

Flournoy

Rodman

et al. 2021

Clinical Psychological Science

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Exposure to stressful life events is strongly associated with internalizing psychopathology, and identifying factors that reduce vulnerability to stress-related internalizing problems is critical for development of early interventions. Drawing on research from affective science, we tested whether high emotion differentiation—the ability to specifically identify one’s feelings—buffers adolescents from developing internalizing symptoms when exposed to stress. Thirty adolescents completed a laboratory measure of emotion differentiation before an intensive yearlong longitudinal study in which exposure to stress and internalizing problems were assessed at both the moment level ( n = 4,921 experience-sampling assessments) and month level ( n = 355 monthly assessments). High negative and positive emotion differentiation attenuated moment-level coupling between perceived stress and feelings of depression, and high negative emotion differentiation eliminated month-level associations between stressful life events and anxiety symptoms. These results suggest that high emotion differentiation buffers adolescents against anxiety and depression in the face of stress, perhaps by facilitating adaptive emotion regulation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High Emotion Differentiation Buffers Against Internalizing Symptoms Following Exposure to Stressful Life Events in Adolescence: An Intensive Longitudinal Study

Nook

Flournoy

Rodman

et al. 2021

Clinical Psychological Science

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“…Two hundred and three participants were enrolled in a broader study of emotional development (see Nook, Sasse, Lambert, McLaughlin, & Somerville, 2017; Nook, Sasse, Lambert, McLaughlin, & Somerville, 2018; Nook et al., 2019; Weissman et al, in press). Data from 11 participants were unusable and thus excluded (two did not complete the task, seven did not understand and/or cooperate with instructions, two experienced technical problems).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Voluntary pursuit of negatively valenced stimuli from childhood to early adulthood

Grisanzio

Sasse

Nook

et al. 2020

Developmental Science

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Although common sense suggests that we are motivated to pursue positive and avoid negative experiences, previous research shows that people regularly seek out negative experiences. In the current study, we characterized this tendency from childhood to young adulthood. Due to the known increases in risky behavior and sensation seeking in adolescence, we hypothesized that adolescents would show an increased engagement with negatively valenced stimuli compared to children and adults. Participants aged 4–25 (N = 192) completed a behavioral task assessing motivation to engage with negative, positive, and neutral images. On each trial, participants viewed two small images and selected one to view at a larger size for up to 10s. Trials were organized into three valence conditions: negative versus positive images (matched on arousal), negative versus neutral images, and positive versus neutral images. Although participants chose positive images more than neutral or negative images, participants selected negative images frequently, even when given a positive (28% of trials) or neutral (42% of trials) alternative. Contrary to expectations, the tendency to choose negative images was highest in early childhood and decreased linearly with increasing age, and the tendency to choose positive images increased linearly with age. These results provide insight into how motivation to engage with emotional stimuli varies across age. It is possible that the novelty and rarity of negative experiences drives children to pursue these stimuli. Alternatively, children may find negative images less aversive, which would caution against assuming that these stimuli elicit the same motivational states in individuals of all ages.

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“…Thus, it is possible that emotion recognition and regulation difficulties of comorbid psychopathology seen in patients with ASD (Aldao et al, 2010; McLaughlin & Nolen-Hoeksema, 2011; Weissman et al, 2019) are associated with alexithymia (Bilotta et al, 2016; Laloyaux et al, 2015). In addition, high levels of autistic traits have similarly been associated with altered emotion processing (Corden et al, 2008; Samson et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alexithymic and autistic traits: Relevance for comorbid depression and social phobia in adults with and without autism spectrum disorder

Albantakis

Brandi

Zillekens

et al. 2020

Autism

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High alexithymic traits and psychiatric comorbidities such as depression and social phobia are frequently observed among adults with autism spectrum disorder. In this study, we tested whether alexithymic and/or autistic traits are risk factors for depressive and social phobic symptoms in adults with autism spectrum disorder ( n = 122), patients with social interaction difficulties other than autism ( n = 62), and neurotypical participants ( n = 261). Multiple regression analyses of these three groups demonstrated that both traits explained considerable variance of depressive and social phobic symptoms. In adults with autism spectrum disorder, alexithymic traits were predictive of depressive symptoms, while autistic traits predicted social phobic symptoms. In patients with social interaction difficulties other than autism, alexithymic and autistic traits were identified as predictors of social phobic symptoms, while no variable predicted depressive symptoms. In neurotypicals, both alexithymic and autistic traits were predictive of depressive and social phobic symptoms. Our results, therefore, highlight the importance of assessing both alexithymic and autistic traits in patients with and without autism spectrum disorder for identifying comorbid psychopathology. Depending on the underlying core symptomatology, alexithymic and/or autistic traits increase the risk of depressive and social phobic symptoms calling for therapeutic strategies to prevent or at least reduce comorbid psychopathology. Lay abstract Adults with autism often develop mental health problems such as depression and social phobia. The reasons for this are still unclear. Many studies found that alexithymia plays an important role in mental health problems like depression. People with alexithymia have difficulties identifying and describing their emotions. Almost every second person with autism has alexithymia. Therefore, we explored in this study whether alexithymia is linked to worse mental health in autistic people. We looked at two common diagnoses, depression and social phobia. We found that alexithymia increased symptoms of depression, while autistic traits increased symptoms of social phobia. Our results suggest that alexithymia and autistic traits can increase the risk of mental health problems. An early assessment could help prevent mental health problems and improve quality of life.

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Low Emotional Awareness as a Transdiagnostic Mechanism Underlying Psychopathology in Adolescence

Cited by 53 publications

References 115 publications

High Emotion Differentiation Buffers Against Internalizing Symptoms Following Exposure to Stressful Life Events in Adolescence: An Intensive Longitudinal Study

High Emotion Differentiation Buffers Against Internalizing Symptoms Following Exposure to Stressful Life Events in Adolescence: An Intensive Longitudinal Study

Voluntary pursuit of negatively valenced stimuli from childhood to early adulthood

Alexithymic and autistic traits: Relevance for comorbid depression and social phobia in adults with and without autism spectrum disorder

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