Autistic Traits, Arousal, and Gender Features in a Nonclinical Sample of Italian Adolescents

Fiammetta Iannuzzo, Giovanni Genovese, Clara Lombardo, Carmenrita Infortuna, Rosa De Stefano, Carmela Mento, Maria Rosaria Anna Muscatello and Antonio Bruno ()
Additional contact information
Fiammetta Iannuzzo: Department of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morphofunctional Imaging, University of Messina, Via Consolare Valeria 1, Contesse, 98125 Messina, Italy
Giovanni Genovese: Psychiatry Unit, Polyclinic Hospital University of Messina, Via Consolare Valeria 1, Contesse, 98125 Messina, Italy
Clara Lombardo: Psychiatry Unit, Polyclinic Hospital University of Messina, Via Consolare Valeria 1, Contesse, 98125 Messina, Italy
Carmenrita Infortuna: Psychiatry Unit, Polyclinic Hospital University of Messina, Via Consolare Valeria 1, Contesse, 98125 Messina, Italy
Rosa De Stefano: Psychiatry Unit, Polyclinic Hospital University of Messina, Via Consolare Valeria 1, Contesse, 98125 Messina, Italy
Carmela Mento: Department of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morphofunctional Imaging, University of Messina, Via Consolare Valeria 1, Contesse, 98125 Messina, Italy
Maria Rosaria Anna Muscatello: Department of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morphofunctional Imaging, University of Messina, Via Consolare Valeria 1, Contesse, 98125 Messina, Italy
Antonio Bruno: Department of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morphofunctional Imaging, University of Messina, Via Consolare Valeria 1, Contesse, 98125 Messina, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 20, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: (1) Background: Subthreshold autism is a sub-clinical pattern of autism spectrum disorder-like (ASD-like) traits, including poor social skills, cognitive rigidity, anxiety, and aloofness. These ASD-like traits are significantly more prevalent among parents and relatives of participants with autism; however, evidence suggests that subclinical autistic traits are not restricted to the family members of individuals with autism but rather are continuously distributed in the general population. Though the autistic subclinical form is perhaps prevalent among adults, little attention has been paid to the association between autistic traits and global functioning in adolescence. The aim of the present study is to investigate the subthreshold autism phenotype in adolescence and its relationship with arousal correlates, exploring gender differences emerging in the sample. (2) Methods: A sample of 725 students (293 males and 432 females; mean age 17.19) were recruited from three high schools in Southern Italy. They were assessed by the following instruments: Autism Spectrum Quotient, Adult Autism Subthreshold Spectrum, Ritvo Autism and Asperger Diagnostic Scale 14, and Hyperarousal Scale. (3) Results: In males, significant direct correlations between all dimensions of arousal and all variables related to autistic traits emerged except for the correlations between the H-Scale “Introspection score”, the AQ questionnaire “Total score” ( p = 0.094), and the AdAS-Spectrum questionnaire “Empathy factor” ( p = 0.210); in females, significant positive correlations between all dimensions of arousal and all variables related to autistic traits emerged. (4) Conclusions: In the sample of adolescents with subclinical profiles of autistic traits, the Empathy factor of the AdAS Spectrum questionnaire was significantly higher in the male group than in the female group, underscoring lower empathic abilities in the former group. In the male group, the empathy factor did not have a statistically significant correlation with the H-scale introspection factor or with the autistic traits measured by AQ. We suppose that in male adolescents, another hypothetical factor seems to intervene in the relationship between autistic traits and arousal. Otherwise, empathy is a preponderant factor closely related to hyper-arousal responses in female adolescents with autistic traits.

Keywords: autism; autism spectrum disorder; adolescents; developmental disorders; broader autism phenotype (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/1/693/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/1/693/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2022:i:1:p:693-:d:1020525

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().