{"doi":"10.1016/j.eurpsy.2018.09.004","title":"Investigating alexithymia in autism: A systematic review and meta-analysis","abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:sec id=\"S0924933800009007_abst0005\" sec-type=\"other\"><jats:title>Background:</jats:title><jats:p>New research suggests that, rather than representing a core feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), emotional processing difficulties reflect co-occurring alexithymia. Autistic individuals with alexithymia could therefore represent a specific subgroup of autism who may benefit from tailored interventions. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to explore the nature and prevalence of alexithymia in autism using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS).</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec id=\"S0924933800009007_abst0010\" sec-type=\"methods\"><jats:title>Methods:</jats:title><jats:p>Online scientific databases were searched systematically for studies on ASD popu lations using the TAS. Meta-analyses were performed to evaluate differences in scores between the ASD and neurotypical groups, and to determine the prevalence of alexithymia in these populations.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec id=\"S0924933800009007_abst0015\" sec-type=\"results\"><jats:title>Results:</jats:title><jats:p>15 articles comparing autistic and neurotypical (NT) groups were identified. Autistic people scored significantly higher on all scores compared to the NT group. There was also a higher prevalence of alexithymia in the ASD group (49.93% compared to 4.89%), with a significantly increased risk of alexithymia in autistic participants.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec id=\"S0924933800009007_abst0020\" sec-type=\"conclusions\"><jats:title>Conclusions:</jats:title><jats:p>This review highlights that alexithymia is common, rather than universal, in ASD, supporting a growing body of evidence that co-occurring autism and alexithymia represents a specific subgroup in the ASD population that may have specific clinical needs. More research is needed to understand the nature and implications of co-occurring ASD and alexithymia.</jats:p></jats:sec>","journal":"European Psychiatry","year":2019,"id":679847,"datarank":0.9426201241606205,"base_score":6.284134161070802,"endowment":6.284134161070802,"self_citation_contribution":0.9426201241606205,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.9426201241606205,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":535,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":null,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":false,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":null,"fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":699492,"name":"Catherine Stewart","orcid":"0000-0002-7204-7356","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":756355,"name":"Kate Tchanturia","orcid":"0000-0001-8988-3265","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1776298,"name":"Emma Kinnaird","orcid":null,"position":0,"is_corresponding":false}],"reference_count":0,"raw_metadata":{"has_enrichment":true,"resolved":true,"title":"Investigating alexithymia in autism: A systematic review and meta-analysis","abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:sec id=\"S0924933800009007_abst0005\" sec-type=\"other\"><jats:title>Background:</jats:title><jats:p>New research suggests that, rather than representing a core feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), emotional processing difficulties reflect co-occurring alexithymia. Autistic individuals with alexithymia could therefore represent a specific subgroup of autism who may benefit from tailored interventions. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to explore the nature and prevalence of alexithymia in autism using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS).</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec id=\"S0924933800009007_abst0010\" sec-type=\"methods\"><jats:title>Methods:</jats:title><jats:p>Online scientific databases were searched systematically for studies on ASD popu lations using the TAS. Meta-analyses were performed to evaluate differences in scores between the ASD and neurotypical groups, and to determine the prevalence of alexithymia in these populations.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec id=\"S0924933800009007_abst0015\" sec-type=\"results\"><jats:title>Results:</jats:title><jats:p>15 articles comparing autistic and neurotypical (NT) groups were identified. Autistic people scored significantly higher on all scores compared to the NT group. There was also a higher prevalence of alexithymia in the ASD group (49.93% compared to 4.89%), with a significantly increased risk of alexithymia in autistic participants.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec id=\"S0924933800009007_abst0020\" sec-type=\"conclusions\"><jats:title>Conclusions:</jats:title><jats:p>This review highlights that alexithymia is common, rather than universal, in ASD, supporting a growing body of evidence that co-occurring autism and alexithymia represents a specific subgroup in the ASD population that may have specific clinical needs. More research is needed to understand the nature and implications of co-occurring ASD and alexithymia.</jats:p></jats:sec>","is_dataset_classified":null,"base_score":6.284134161070802,"endowment":6.284134161070802,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"views":0,"has_version_chain":false,"is_dataset":false,"is_oa":false,"pmid":"30399531","pmcid":"PMC6331035","openalex_id":"https://openalex.org/W2899269258","authors":[],"funders":[{"funder_name":"Swiss Anorexia Nervosa Foundation","grant_id":"58-16","title":null},{"funder_name":"MRC Doctoral Training Partnership in Biomedical Sciences","grant_id":"MR/N013700/1","title":"DTP Bid Led by King's College London"},{"funder_name":"Medical Research Council","grant_id":"MR/S020381/1","title":null},{"funder_name":"Medical Research Council","grant_id":"MR/R004595/1","title":null},{"funder_name":"Medical Research Council","grant_id":"1847521","title":null},{"funder_name":"MRC and MRF Child and Young Adult Mental Health (the underpinning aetiology of self harm and eating disorders)","grant_id":"","title":null}],"total_grants":6,"fwci":7.4759,"citation_percentile":0.99514563,"influential_citations":0,"citation_trend":[{"year":2019,"count":14},{"year":2020,"count":36},{"year":2021,"count":73},{"year":2022,"count":64},{"year":2023,"count":94},{"year":2024,"count":80},{"year":2025,"count":99},{"year":2026,"count":75}],"oa_status":"hybrid","license":"cc-by","oa_locations":[{"url":"https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/06F8AA96D03679353022A52E6ACE2F50/S0924933800009007a.pdf/div-class-title-investigating-alexithymia-in-autism-a-systematic-review-and-meta-analysis-div.pdf","host_type":"journal"},{"url":"https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/06F8AA96D03679353022A52E6ACE2F50/S0924933800009007a.pdf/div-class-title-investigating-alexithymia-in-autism-a-systematic-review-and-meta-analysis-div.pdf","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0924933818301779?httpAccept=text/xml","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0924933818301779?httpAccept=text/plain","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0924933800009007","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2018.09.004","host_type":"journal"},{"url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30399531","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/6331035","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC6331035","host_type":"Europe_PMC"},{"url":"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2018.09.004","host_type":""},{"url":"https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2018.09.004","host_type":""},{"url":"https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:1962f1af-4ca5-4086-8256-168b27a36d19","host_type":""}],"fields_of_study":["Autism Spectrum Disorder Research","Child Nutrition and Feeding Issues","Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments","05 social sciences","03 medical and health sciences","0302 clinical medicine","0501 psychology and cognitive sciences","Adolescent","Adult","Affective Symptoms","Autistic Disorder","Comorbidity","Emotional Adjustment","Female","Humans","Male","Prevalence","Psychological Tests"],"mesh_terms":["Emotional Adjustment","Adolescent","Adult","Affective Symptoms","Autistic Disorder","Female","Humans","Male","Psychological Tests","Comorbidity","Prevalence"],"keywords":["Alexithymia","Neurotypical","Autism","Psychology","Clinical psychology","Toronto Alexithymia Scale","Autism spectrum disorder","Meta-analysis","Population","Psychological intervention","Psychiatry","Medicine","Psychometry And Assessments In Psychiatry (Tests)","Adult","Male","Psychological Tests","Adolescent","Comorbidity","Emotional Adjustment","Article","Prevalence","Humans","Female","Affective Symptoms","Autistic Disorder"],"sdg_mappings":[{"sdg_number":3,"sdg_label":"3. 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