01/07/2015
THE AUTISM RESEARCH GROUP
THE AUTISM RESEARCH GROUP
Academic excellence for business and the professions
What is Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)?
Why might mindfulness training alleviate
anxiety in Autism Spectrum Disorder?
A lifelong developmental disorder defined by:
Abnormal development of social communication skills
Sensory processing abnormalities
Repetitive / Stereotyped behaviours and/or restricted interests
Sebastian B Gaigg
ASD develops within the first 2 years of life
Later in life it is frequently associated with additional mental
health difficulties....particularly Anxiety Disorders
THE AUTISM RESEARCH GROUP
Fear and Anxiety Disorders
Fear = response to immediate threat
Anxiety = response to anticipated threat
THE AUTISM RESEARCH GROUP
There are many types of Fear/Anxiety Disorders
Specific Phobias (e.g., spiders, heights, people, open spaces, etc...)
Separation Anxiety Disorder (primarily in children)
Panic Attacks / Panic Disorder
When do we talk about a ‘disorder’?
When the feeling is excessive, uncontrollable and persistent
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Generalised Anxiety Disorder
When it interferes with a person’s ability to function
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01/07/2015
THE AUTISM RESEARCH GROUP
THE AUTISM RESEARCH GROUP
How common are Anxiety Disorders?
Diagnosis and Treatment of Anxiety in ASD?
Around 10 - 15% of people in the
general population have an
anxiety disorder at some point
in their life - most commonly a
specific phobia.
Symptoms of anxiety are often overlooked in ASD and
inappropriately attributed to the ASD diagnosis.
Anxiety is therefore often not a specific treatment target but
thought to improve through interventions that target ASD
(e.g., symptoms of social phobia or OCD).
The prevalence in ASD is 40 –
50%, with Generalised Anxiety
amongst the most common
types.
When anxiety is a specific treatment targeted, there is little
research to inform what treatments might work best.
THE AUTISM RESEARCH GROUP
THE AUTISM RESEARCH GROUP
Why do we think that Mindfulness based therapies
might be most effective?
The nature of Alexithymia in ASD
Primarily a difficulty in identifying what emotion is experienced
Around 40% of ASD adults have difficulties identifying and
describing their own emotions – ‘Alexithymia’.
20
15
10
5
0
TAS-20
ASD
12
TD
Total subfactor scores
...and Alexithymia can be considered an opposite to
mindfulness, at least in the domain of emotions.
Total subfactor scores
25
We know that Alexithymia is associated with Anxiety in
the general population...
BVAQ
ASD
TD
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
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01/07/2015
THE AUTISM RESEARCH GROUP
What role does Alexithymia and Mindfulness play in
Anxiety in ASD?
.78
PSQ
Alexithymia
.16
.67
-.47
ASD
.23
.96
-.49
FNE
-.47
Mindfulness
.52
What are the implications for treatment?
By promoting greater awareness of inner experiences,
mindfulness based therapies may reduce Alexithymia.
STAI
Anxiety
.55
THE AUTISM RESEARCH GROUP
IoU
This may yield both direct and indirect benefits for dealing
with Anxiety in ASD
Direct: Greater acceptance of ‘unknown’ feelings
Indirect: Fewer ‘unknown’ feelings to trigger anxiety
Thank you for listening!!
Dr. Geoff Bird (Institute of Psychiatry)
Dr. Mikle South (Bigham Young University)
Biomedical Vacation Scholarship
All my colleagues and students in our Lab
All children, adults, families, teachers and
schools who support our work
Claire Derwent
Anna Lambrechts
Melanie Ring
Amanda Green
Alida Acosta
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