The role of alexithymia in parent-child interaction and in the emotional ability of children with autism spectrum disorder.
Teach feeling words, not just play skills, because a child’s alexithymia blocks parent interaction more than the autism label.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team watched how parents and kids talk and play. Some kids had autism. Some did not.
They gave everyone a short quiz about feelings. The quiz asks, "Can you name your emotions?" High scores mean you have alexithymia.
Last, they checked if kids could calm themselves when upset.
What they found
Parents of kids with autism spent less time chatting, smiling, and sharing toys than parents of typical kids.
When the quiz showed the child had alexithymia, the low interaction was explained. Autism label alone did not predict it.
Once alexithymia was counted, the link between less play and worse emotion control vanished.
How this fits with other research
Allen et al. (2013) saw the same pattern with music. Autistic adults said fewer feeling words about songs, but the gap disappeared when alexithymia was removed.
Temelturk et al. (2021) looked at toddlers and also found weaker parent-child bonds in autism. Yet parent alexithymia scores were no different across groups. Together the papers show the child’s emotion vocabulary, not the parent’s, shapes the bond.
Ben Hassen et al. (2023) extended the idea to adults. Higher alexithymia still went hand-in-hand with worse emotion regulation in autistic people, proving the link lasts across the lifespan.
Why it matters
Stop blaming "autism" for quiet play sessions. Screen every child for alexithymia. If they can’t name feelings, teach feeling words first. Use feeling cards, model "I’m frustrated," and praise labeling. Better words build warmer play and smoother self-calming.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have more emotional difficulties than typically developing (TD) children. Of all the factors that impact children's emotional development, parents, and the way they interact with their children, are of crucial importance. The present study compared the amount of parent-child interactions among 35 dyads of parents and their children with ASD and 41 dyads of parents and their TD children, aged between 3 and 13 years, during a frustration-eliciting situation. We further examined whether children's alexithymia is linked to parent-child interactions and whether parent-child interactions are linked to children's emotional difficulties. We found that parents of children with ASD interacted significantly less with their children than parents of TD children. This reduced interaction was better explained by children's alexithymia than by children's ASD diagnosis. Finally, parent-child interaction mediated the relationship between children's ASD diagnosis and children's emotion regulation ability, as well as some aspects of children's emotional reactivity but only if not accounting for children's alexithymia levels. Our results demonstrate the determinant role children's alexithymia plays on parent-child interactions and on how these interactions are linked to children's difficulties in emotion regulation and emotional reactivity. Results are discussed in light of how parent-child interactions and the emotional ability of children with ASD can be improved by targeting children's alexithymia. Autism Res 2019, 12: 458-468 © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: In the present research, we found that parents of children with autism interact less with their children compared to parents of typically developing children. We also found that this decreased interaction is linked to children's difficulties to recognize, describe, and distinguish emotions, a triad of difficulties known as alexithymia. Furthermore, parents' interaction with their children explains emotional reactivity and emotion regulation problems in children with autism. However, if we take into consideration children's alexithymia, then parents' interaction with their children is not related to their children's emotional difficulties in reactivity and regulation. Therefore, to improve the interaction between parents and their children with autism, and the emotional development of these children, we recommend interventions that teach children with autism how to recognize, describe, and distinguish emotions in themselves and others.
Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2019 · doi:10.1002/aur.2061