Emotional dysregulation is a frequent issue endured by person with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and has been associated with a broad range of adverse mental and physical health outcomes. Individuals with ASD have further emotional regulation difficulties and invariably self- report or demonstrate a lesser adaptive pattern of emotional regulation strategy use. the greater prevalence of internalizing and externalizing issues sighted in ASD are associated with the higher habitual use of some emotional regulation strategies and lesser habitual use of others.
Person with ASD showed the same degree of reactivity to negative stimulus as typically developing children. Besides, elderly children with ASD owned a distinct emotion regulation profile than normally developing individuals, characterized by a lesser frequent use of cognitive reappraisal and further frequent use of suppression. When encouraged to use cognitive reappraisal, individuals with ASD were less ready to apply reappraisal, but benefitted from this strategy once they were ready to bring on a reappraisal. Thus, the development of treatment programs that consider enhancing the utilization of adaptive types of emotion regulation might lower emotional problems and optimize the long-term outcomes of a person with ASD.
Problematic emotional responses, similar to tantrums and anger outbreaks, are unexpectedly common in people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Indeed, clinical reports and many initial empirical studies give documentation of severe impairments in emotional functioning among persons with ASD. Similar dysfunctional emotional responses aren’t part of the formal definition or core features of ASD, which include a lack of social communication and interaction, as well as restricted and stereotypic behaviors.
When people regulate their emotions, they’re trying to tell how they undergo and/ or express emotions. Emotion regulation capabilities are critical for optimal functioning and adaptive long-term results because they enable appropriate responses in social interactions and facilitate the capability to manage with new or changing situations and stimulants. Cognitive reappraisal, an antecedent-centered regulation strategy, has been identified as specifically important for adaptive emotional functioning. It involves thinking about an event that has the potential to evoke an emotional response in a way that alters the event’s emotional impact. Cognitive reappraisal has been found to be a crucial skill for optimizing emotional functioning.
Emotion Dysregulation in ASD
Problematic emotional behaviors including perversity, temper outbursts, aggression, and/ or self-damaging behaviors are constantly observed in ASD. More than 60 individuals with ASD show similar behaviors. Also, people with ASD also undergo elevated degrees of anxiety and increased negative feelings that can contribute to violent sensibilities of distress. In combination with problematic emotional actions, elevated negative emotions may negatively impact day-to-day functioning, quality of life, and long-term outcomes.
People with ASD use adaptive emotion regulation strategies, similar to target-directed behaviors or social support seeking, less effectively compared with an impact group. Rather, people with ASD depend on maladaptive or idiosyncratic strategies like as avoidance and venting or defense and crying. In addition, eye contact avoidance in ASD has been suggested to be a coping system used to avoid a heightened emotional response associated with eye contact.
Why might individuals with ASD have more difficulty than typically developing in generating cognitive reappraisal strategies?
This might be related to a reduced capability to describe and identify feelings and reduced perceptiveness into more complex emotional processes as well as the tendency to perseverate. Difficulty in interrupting or inhibiting maladaptive actions and negative feelings in ASD might also increase the tendency to show exaggerated negative feelings and associated actions.
Treatment Implications
Person with ASDs, obtain benefits when they’re capable of generating a cognitive reappraisal strategy. Although the individual with ASD exhibited deficits in generating cognitive reappraisals, they’re able to enhance their development of adaptive emotion regulation strategies.
