Open AccessThe Perceived Causal Relations Between Sensory Reactivity Differences and Anxiety Symptoms in Autistic Adults
Author(s) -
Isabelle Verhulst,
Keren MacLennan,
Anthony Haffey,
Teresa Tavassoli
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
autism in adulthood
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2573-959X
pISSN - 2573-9581
DOI - 10.1089/aut.2022.0018
Subject(s) - anxiety , reactivity (psychology) , psychology , autism , sensory system , clinical psychology , population , audiology , developmental psychology , psychiatry , medicine , neuroscience , environmental health , alternative medicine , pathology
Rates of anxiety are inordinately high in autistic adults. Sensory reactivity differences, such as hyperreactivity (e.g., strong reactions to sound), hyporeactivity (e.g., no, or slower reactions to pain), and seeking (e.g., fascination with spinning objects), are a diagnostic criterion of autism and have been linked with anxiety. Understanding how individuals perceive these to be causally related can impact the assessment and treatment of anxiety. Therefore, we examined the perceived causal relations (PCR) between sensory reactivity differences and anxiety in autistic adults.