Assessing Subjective Emotional Experience in a  Non-Autistic Population

Iain Mccaw; Sarah Talari

doi:doi:10.11648/j.sjcm.20190804.12

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Assessing Subjective Emotional Experience in a Non-Autistic Population

Iain Mccaw, Sarah Talari

Received: 14 May 2019 Accepted: 18 June 2019 Published: 16 August 2019

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Abstract

Clinicians within the Leeds Autism Diagnostic Service (LADS) have found that many of our patients have difficulty answering questions pertaining to subjective emotional experience. It was felt by clinicians within the service that service users who were later diagnosed as neuro-typical also had difficulty answering questions related to their subjective emotional state. It was felt that by examining responses to the meaning of four common emotional states (relaxation, anger, anxiety and happiness) in a neuro-typical population, themes or common words or phrases could be elicited in the description of each emotion. These questions were similar in scope to those found within the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, 2^nd Edition, which is used by LADS during diagnostic assessments. This would then allow clinicians a means of comparing a service user’s responses with what could be expected from a neuro-typical population. We felt that other teams within our organization unconnected with the Autism Diagnostic Service, could serve as a useful neuro-typical population. An online survey link was therefore sent to different administration teams within Leeds and York Partnership Foundation Trust, which allowed participants to complete four questions, each one asking them to describe the subjective meaning of relaxation, anger, anxiety and happiness in turn. There were no specific inclusion or exclusion criteria for these survey participants. Each question provided an area where each survey participant could express this in up to a few sentences. Following this, the results were analysed for common descriptors and actions, associated in the responses for a particular emotion. When analysing the results, it was evident that actions and activities were more frequently used in responses by the survey participants in responses to questions related to relaxation, anger and happiness, however were less apparent in the responses to describe anxiety. It is hoped that these results will be able to guide clinicians in interpreting and scoring diagnostic screening tools for Autism by providing more knowledge about neuro-typical responses.

DOI	10.11648/j.sjcm.20190804.12
Published in	Science Journal of Clinical Medicine (Volume 8, Issue 4, July 2019)
Page(s)	39-43
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Autism, Alexithymia, Neuro-typical, Subjective Emotional Experience

References

[1]	Parrot G. Emotions in Social Psychology: Essential Readings. Printed by Edwards Brothers, Ann Arbor, Michigan 2001.
[2]	Autism Diagnostic Interview Revised. Rutter, Le Coulter, Lord. Hogrefe, 2003.
[3]	Lord et al. Autism Diagnostic Interview Schedule, Second Edition: ADOS-2. Pearson Clinical, 2012.
[4]	Moseley et al. Lost for emotion words: What motor and limbic brain activity reveals about autism and semantic theory. NeuroImage 104 (2015) 413–422.
[5]	Poquerusse J et al 2018. Alexithymia and Autism Spectrum Disorder: A complex relationship. Frontiers in Psychology. 9 (1196) 1-10.
[6]	Trevisan et al. Alexithymia, but not Autism Spectrum Disorder, maybe related to the production of emotional facial expressions. Molecular Autism (2016) 7: 46.
[7]	Shah P, Catmur C, Bird G. Emotional decision-making in autism spectrum disorder: the roles of Interoception and Alexithymia. Shah et al. Molecular Autism (2016) 7: 43.
[8]	Bethoz S, Hill EL. The validity of using self-reports to assess emotion regulation abilities in adults with autism spectrum disorder. European Psychiatry Volume 20, Issue 3, May 2005, Pages 291-298.
[9]	Brewer et al. The impact of Autism Spectrum Disorder and Alexithymia on Judgements of Moral Acceptability. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 2015, Vol 124, No. 3, 589-595.
[10]	Gaigg S, 2014. People with Autism don’t lack emotions but often have difficulty identifying them. http://theconversation.com/people-with-autism-dont-lack-emotions-but-often-have-difficulty-identifying-them-25225.
[11]	Song Y, Hakonda Y. Selective Impairment of Basic Emotional Recognition in People with Autism: Discrimination Thresholds for Recognition of Facial Expressions of Varying Intensities. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders (2018) 48: 1886–1894.
[12]	Newbigin et al. Brief Report: Empathic Responsiveness of High Functioning Children with Autism to Expressed and Anticipated Distress. J Autism Dev Disord (2016) 46: 3338–3343.
[13]	Sasson NJ, Dichter GS, Bodfish JW (2012) Affective Responses by Adults with Autism Are Reduced to Social Images but Elevated to Images Related to Circumscribed Interests. PLoS ONE 7 (8): e42457. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0042457.
[14]	Gross TF. The perception of four basic emotions in human and nonhuman faces by children with autism and other developmental disabilities. J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2004 Oct; 32 (5): 469-80.
[15]	R. L. Mosley et al. Lost for emotion words: What motor and limbic brain activity reveals about autism and semantic theory. NeuroImage 104 (2015) 413–422.
[16]	Xu et al. Structure of the alexithymic brain: A parametric coordinate-based metaanalysis. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 87 (2018) 50–55.
[17]	Moriguchi Y, Komaki G. Neuroimaging studies of alexithymia: physical, affective, and social perspectives. BioPsychoSocial Medicine 2013, 7: 8.

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Iain Mccaw, Sarah Talari. (2019). Assessing Subjective Emotional Experience in a Non-Autistic Population. Science Journal of Clinical Medicine, 8(4), 39-43. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjcm.20190804.12

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Iain Mccaw; Sarah Talari. Assessing Subjective Emotional Experience in a Non-Autistic Population. Sci. J. Clin. Med. 2019, 8(4), 39-43. doi: 10.11648/j.sjcm.20190804.12

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Iain Mccaw, Sarah Talari. Assessing Subjective Emotional Experience in a Non-Autistic Population. Sci J Clin Med. 2019;8(4):39-43. doi: 10.11648/j.sjcm.20190804.12

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@article{10.11648/j.sjcm.20190804.12,
  author = {Iain Mccaw and Sarah Talari},
  title = {Assessing Subjective Emotional Experience in a  Non-Autistic Population},
  journal = {Science Journal of Clinical Medicine},
  volume = {8},
  number = {4},
  pages = {39-43},
  doi = {10.11648/j.sjcm.20190804.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjcm.20190804.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.sjcm.20190804.12},
  abstract = {Clinicians within the Leeds Autism Diagnostic Service (LADS) have found that many of our patients have difficulty answering questions pertaining to subjective emotional experience. It was felt by clinicians within the service that service users who were later diagnosed as neuro-typical also had difficulty answering questions related to their subjective emotional state. It was felt that by examining responses to the meaning of four common emotional states (relaxation, anger, anxiety and happiness) in a neuro-typical population, themes or common words or phrases could be elicited in the description of each emotion. These questions were similar in scope to those found within the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, 2nd Edition, which is used by LADS during diagnostic assessments. This would then allow clinicians a means of comparing a service user’s responses with what could be expected from a neuro-typical population. We felt that other teams within our organization unconnected with the Autism Diagnostic Service, could serve as a useful neuro-typical population. An online survey link was therefore sent to different administration teams within Leeds and York Partnership Foundation Trust, which allowed participants to complete four questions, each one asking them to describe the subjective meaning of relaxation, anger, anxiety and happiness in turn. There were no specific inclusion or exclusion criteria for these survey participants. Each question provided an area where each survey participant could express this in up to a few sentences. Following this, the results were analysed for common descriptors and actions, associated in the responses for a particular emotion. When analysing the results, it was evident that actions and activities were more frequently used in responses by the survey participants in responses to questions related to relaxation, anger and happiness, however were less apparent in the responses to describe anxiety. It is hoped that these results will be able to guide clinicians in interpreting and scoring diagnostic screening tools for Autism by providing more knowledge about neuro-typical responses.},
 year = {2019}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Assessing Subjective Emotional Experience in a  Non-Autistic Population
AU  - Iain Mccaw
AU  - Sarah Talari
Y1  - 2019/08/16
PY  - 2019
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjcm.20190804.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.sjcm.20190804.12
T2  - Science Journal of Clinical Medicine
JF  - Science Journal of Clinical Medicine
JO  - Science Journal of Clinical Medicine
SP  - 39
EP  - 43
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2327-2732
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjcm.20190804.12
AB  - Clinicians within the Leeds Autism Diagnostic Service (LADS) have found that many of our patients have difficulty answering questions pertaining to subjective emotional experience. It was felt by clinicians within the service that service users who were later diagnosed as neuro-typical also had difficulty answering questions related to their subjective emotional state. It was felt that by examining responses to the meaning of four common emotional states (relaxation, anger, anxiety and happiness) in a neuro-typical population, themes or common words or phrases could be elicited in the description of each emotion. These questions were similar in scope to those found within the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, 2nd Edition, which is used by LADS during diagnostic assessments. This would then allow clinicians a means of comparing a service user’s responses with what could be expected from a neuro-typical population. We felt that other teams within our organization unconnected with the Autism Diagnostic Service, could serve as a useful neuro-typical population. An online survey link was therefore sent to different administration teams within Leeds and York Partnership Foundation Trust, which allowed participants to complete four questions, each one asking them to describe the subjective meaning of relaxation, anger, anxiety and happiness in turn. There were no specific inclusion or exclusion criteria for these survey participants. Each question provided an area where each survey participant could express this in up to a few sentences. Following this, the results were analysed for common descriptors and actions, associated in the responses for a particular emotion. When analysing the results, it was evident that actions and activities were more frequently used in responses by the survey participants in responses to questions related to relaxation, anger and happiness, however were less apparent in the responses to describe anxiety. It is hoped that these results will be able to guide clinicians in interpreting and scoring diagnostic screening tools for Autism by providing more knowledge about neuro-typical responses.
VL  - 8
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Author Information

Iain Mccaw

General Adult Psychiatry, East Riding Addictions Service, Hull, United Kingdom
Sarah Talari

Learning Disability Service, Parkside Lodge, Leeds, United Kingdom

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APA Style

Iain Mccaw, Sarah Talari. (2019). Assessing Subjective Emotional Experience in a Non-Autistic Population. Science Journal of Clinical Medicine, 8(4), 39-43. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjcm.20190804.12

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ACS Style

Iain Mccaw; Sarah Talari. Assessing Subjective Emotional Experience in a Non-Autistic Population. Sci. J. Clin. Med. 2019, 8(4), 39-43. doi: 10.11648/j.sjcm.20190804.12

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AMA Style

Iain Mccaw, Sarah Talari. Assessing Subjective Emotional Experience in a Non-Autistic Population. Sci J Clin Med. 2019;8(4):39-43. doi: 10.11648/j.sjcm.20190804.12

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@article{10.11648/j.sjcm.20190804.12,
  author = {Iain Mccaw and Sarah Talari},
  title = {Assessing Subjective Emotional Experience in a  Non-Autistic Population},
  journal = {Science Journal of Clinical Medicine},
  volume = {8},
  number = {4},
  pages = {39-43},
  doi = {10.11648/j.sjcm.20190804.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjcm.20190804.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.sjcm.20190804.12},
  abstract = {Clinicians within the Leeds Autism Diagnostic Service (LADS) have found that many of our patients have difficulty answering questions pertaining to subjective emotional experience. It was felt by clinicians within the service that service users who were later diagnosed as neuro-typical also had difficulty answering questions related to their subjective emotional state. It was felt that by examining responses to the meaning of four common emotional states (relaxation, anger, anxiety and happiness) in a neuro-typical population, themes or common words or phrases could be elicited in the description of each emotion. These questions were similar in scope to those found within the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, 2nd Edition, which is used by LADS during diagnostic assessments. This would then allow clinicians a means of comparing a service user’s responses with what could be expected from a neuro-typical population. We felt that other teams within our organization unconnected with the Autism Diagnostic Service, could serve as a useful neuro-typical population. An online survey link was therefore sent to different administration teams within Leeds and York Partnership Foundation Trust, which allowed participants to complete four questions, each one asking them to describe the subjective meaning of relaxation, anger, anxiety and happiness in turn. There were no specific inclusion or exclusion criteria for these survey participants. Each question provided an area where each survey participant could express this in up to a few sentences. Following this, the results were analysed for common descriptors and actions, associated in the responses for a particular emotion. When analysing the results, it was evident that actions and activities were more frequently used in responses by the survey participants in responses to questions related to relaxation, anger and happiness, however were less apparent in the responses to describe anxiety. It is hoped that these results will be able to guide clinicians in interpreting and scoring diagnostic screening tools for Autism by providing more knowledge about neuro-typical responses.},
 year = {2019}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Assessing Subjective Emotional Experience in a  Non-Autistic Population
AU  - Iain Mccaw
AU  - Sarah Talari
Y1  - 2019/08/16
PY  - 2019
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjcm.20190804.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.sjcm.20190804.12
T2  - Science Journal of Clinical Medicine
JF  - Science Journal of Clinical Medicine
JO  - Science Journal of Clinical Medicine
SP  - 39
EP  - 43
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2327-2732
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjcm.20190804.12
AB  - Clinicians within the Leeds Autism Diagnostic Service (LADS) have found that many of our patients have difficulty answering questions pertaining to subjective emotional experience. It was felt by clinicians within the service that service users who were later diagnosed as neuro-typical also had difficulty answering questions related to their subjective emotional state. It was felt that by examining responses to the meaning of four common emotional states (relaxation, anger, anxiety and happiness) in a neuro-typical population, themes or common words or phrases could be elicited in the description of each emotion. These questions were similar in scope to those found within the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, 2nd Edition, which is used by LADS during diagnostic assessments. This would then allow clinicians a means of comparing a service user’s responses with what could be expected from a neuro-typical population. We felt that other teams within our organization unconnected with the Autism Diagnostic Service, could serve as a useful neuro-typical population. An online survey link was therefore sent to different administration teams within Leeds and York Partnership Foundation Trust, which allowed participants to complete four questions, each one asking them to describe the subjective meaning of relaxation, anger, anxiety and happiness in turn. There were no specific inclusion or exclusion criteria for these survey participants. Each question provided an area where each survey participant could express this in up to a few sentences. Following this, the results were analysed for common descriptors and actions, associated in the responses for a particular emotion. When analysing the results, it was evident that actions and activities were more frequently used in responses by the survey participants in responses to questions related to relaxation, anger and happiness, however were less apparent in the responses to describe anxiety. It is hoped that these results will be able to guide clinicians in interpreting and scoring diagnostic screening tools for Autism by providing more knowledge about neuro-typical responses.
VL  - 8
IS  - 4
ER  -

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