Disentangling the Associations Between Autistic-Like and Internalizing Traits: A Community Based Twin Study

Internalizing difficulties are prevalent in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), yet little is known about the underlying cause of this comorbidity. It is also unclear which types of autistic-like and internalizing difficulties are most strongly associated. The current study investigated the phenotypic and etiological associations between specific autistic-like traits and internalizing traits within a population-based sample. Parent-reported data were analyzed from 7,311 twin pairs at age 7 to 8?years. Structural equation modeling revealed distinguishable patterns of overlap between the three autistic-like traits (social difficulties, communication problems and repetitive/restricted behaviors) and four subtypes of internalizing traits (social anxiety, fears, generalized anxiety, negative affect). Although all phenotypic associations were modest (rph?=?0.00-0.36), autistic-like communication impairments and repetitive/restricted behaviors correlated most strongly with generalized anxiety and negative affect both phenotypically and genetically. Conversely, autistic-like social difficulties showed little overlap with internalizing behaviors. Disentangling these associations and their etiological underpinnings may help contribute to the conceptualization and diagnosis of 'comorbidity' within ASD and internalizing disorders.     

Exploring the Relationship Between Autistic-Like Traits and ADHD Behaviors in Early Childhood: Findings from a Community Twin Study of 2-Year-Olds

Behaviors characteristic of autism and ADHD emerge in early childhood, yet research investigating their comorbidity has focused on older children. This study aimed to explore the nature of the relationship between autistic-like traits and ADHD behaviors in a community sample of 2-year-olds. Twins from the Boston University Twin Project (N = 312 pairs) were assessed by their parents on autistic-like traits and ADHD behaviors using the Childhood Behavior Checklist. Phenotypic analyses showed that after controlling for general cognitive ability and socioeconomic status, autistic-like traits (total scale as well as social and nonsocial subscales) correlated positively with ADHD behaviors (r = 0.23–0.26). Structural equation model-fitting analyses revealed that there were modest shared genetic influences between ADHD- and autistic traits (genetic correlation = 0.27) as well as some common environmental influences explaining their covariation. Implications for identifying shared biological pathways underlying autistic-like traits and ADHD behaviors are discussed.     

The associations between autistic and communication traits in parents and developmental outcomes in children at familial risk of autism at 6 and 24 months of age

BackgroundSeveral studies have explored relationships between parent broader autism phenotype and offspring communication, and have reported that autistic-like traits in parents are related to offspring communication difficulties and autism severity. However, past research has focused on studying such associations in childhood and we know very little about them in infancy. With accumulating evidence that interventions administered during infancy may be most effective in reducing ASD symptoms, it is imperative to examine whether relationships between parent autistic-like traits and child communication appear even earlier during this critical period of life.MethodThis longitudinal study collected data from infant siblings of autistic children (N = 32) and infants with no family history of autism (N = 45) to explore how autistic-like traits in parents related to child developmental outcomes during infancy.ResultsParental communication difficulties and autistic-like traits were found to be associated with a range of child behaviours in the first two years of life, including social-emotional difficulties at 6 and 24 months, lower communication and emerging cognition at 24 months, and increased autistic behaviours at 24 months.ConclusionsBased on the results, it appears that some of the difficulties seen in parents are relayed to children genetically. These findings contribute to ASD research concerning early communication development in children and heritability of ASD traits and may have important implications in monitoring child development. Furthermore, since the current study found a significant association between autistic traits in parents and child social-emotional behaviour as early as 6 months of age, it provides evidence of the value of assessing interventions that target infancy.     

Relationships between autistic-like and schizotypy traits: An analysis using the Autism Spectrum Quotient and Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences

To further investigate claims of a relationship between autism and schizophrenia, the current study examined the associations between specific dimensions of autistic-like and schizotypy traits. These traits were assessed using the Autism Spectrum Quotient and the Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences. After using factor analysis to explore the dimensions of autistic-like and schizotypy traits represented in these measures in two separate groups of students (N₁ = 362, N₂ = 639), the relationships between these dimensions were examined. While the results are consistent with suggestions in the literature of an overlap in the interpersonal deficits associated with autism and schizophrenia, they offer little support for Crespi and Badcock’s (2008) claim that autism and positive schizophrenia are diametrically opposed disorders.     

What Causes Internalising Traits and Autistic Traits to Co-occur in Adolescence? A Community-Based Twin Study

Autism shows a high degree of comorbidity with anxiety disorders. Adolescence is a time of increased stress and vulnerability to internalising problems. This study addresses for the first time the degree of genetic and environmental overlap between autistic traits (total measure and subscales) and internalising traits in a community-based adolescent twin sample. Parents of 12-14-year-old twins (N?=?3,232 pairs; 3,460 males, 3,004 females) reported on the twins’ internalising and autistic traits. Autistic trait subscales were created using principal component analysis. Bivariate twin model-fitting was conducted. Autistic and internalising traits correlated moderately (r?=?0.30). Genetic influences on individual traits were substantial but genetic overlap between traits was moderate (genetic correlation: males?=?0.30, females?=?0.12). Shared environmental influences were low for internalising traits and moderate for autistic traits, and showed considerable overlap (shared environmental correlation: males?=?0.53, females?=?1). Nonshared environmental influences were moderate for internalising traits and low for autistic traits and showed low overlap. A multiple component solution was found for autistic traits and of the derived subscales, autistic-like ‘Social Unease’ showed the most phenotypic and genetic overlap with internalising traits.     

Anthropomorphizing brands: The role of attributed brand traits in interactive CSR communication and consumer online endorsements

Consumers tend to relate to brands in similar ways as they relate to individuals and groups. However, relatively little is known about the attribution of human traits to brands in online contexts. The current research focused on the role of attributed brand traits in interactive corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication and positive electronic word‐of‐mouth intentions. Results of an online survey (N = 174) revealed that higher levels of perceived interactivity were associated with stronger attributions of morality, sociability, and competence traits to brands. Yet only attributed brand morality was associated with consumers' willingness to endorse the brand and its CSR message on social networking sites. These findings underline the importance of brands' openness to dialogue regarding the promotion of CSR activities. Furthermore, these findings suggest that consumers are most likely to feel that brands can represent their identity when brand morality is considered to be high.     

Facial reactions to violent and comedy films: Association with callous–unemotional traits and impulsive aggression

The current study adds to prior research by investigating specific (happiness, sadness, surprise, disgust, anger and fear) and general (corrugator and zygomatic muscle activity) facial reactions to violent and comedy films among individuals with varying levels of callous–unemotional (CU) traits and impulsive aggression (IA). Participants at differential risk of CU traits and IA were selected from a sample of 1225 young adults. In Experiment 1, participants (N?=?82) facial expressions were recorded while they watched violent and comedy films. Video footage of participants' facial expressions was analysed using FaceReader, a facial coding software that classifies facial reactions. Findings suggested that individuals with elevated CU traits showed reduced facial reactions of sadness and disgust to violent films, indicating low empathic concern in response to victims' distress. In contrast, impulsive aggressors produced specifically more angry facial expressions when viewing violent and comedy films. In Experiment 2 (N?=?86), facial reactions were measured by monitoring facial electromyography activity. FaceReader findings were verified by the reduced facial electromyography at the corrugator, but not the zygomatic, muscle in response to violent films shown by individuals high in CU traits. Additional analysis suggested that sympathy to victims explained the association between CU traits and reduced facial reactions to violent films.     

Callous-Unemotional Traits in Individuals Receiving Accommodations in University

Research with antisocial individuals suggests that callous-unemotional (CU) traits, a dimension of psychopathy, consistently predict severe antisocial behaviours and correlate with deficits in recognizing negative emotions, especially fearful facial expressions. However, the generalizability of these findings to non-antisocial populations remains uncertain and largely unexplored. This small, exploratory study aimed to extend this research by measuring CU traits and facial emotion recognition in university students with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), learning disabilities, other psychiatric disorders, and comparison participants with physical/sensory disabilities. As the clinical groups can exhibit deficits in emotion recognition, this study sought to shed light on the candidacy of CU traits as a factor in emotion recognition. Results suggested that individuals in the diagnostic groups possess similar levels of CU traits to the comparison group and that the relationship between CU traits and emotion recognition deficits previously seen in antisocial populations is not present in this sample. Contrary to the hypothesis, those in the diagnostic groups displayed similar levels of accuracy on an emotion recognition task as the comparison group. Recommendations are made for future research to use more specific and representative diagnostic populations to further assess the relationships between CU traits and emotion recognition in non-antisocial populations.     

Unique sets of social and mood characteristics differentiate autistic and negative schizotypy traits in a young adult non-clinical sample

While well-established as distinct disorders, new evidence linking autism and schizophrenia has emerged. One line of evidence is the strong correlation identified between the social traits assessed by the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ:Social) and the negative traits of schizotypy. To further explore this association, the current study examined whether these sets of traits are convergent or divergent in the degree to which they relate to specific aspects of socio-emotional functioning. Regression analyses conducted on self-report data collected from 284 undergraduate students showed that the social items from the AQ uniquely relate to levels of social anxiety and social skills, while negative schizotypy traits uniquely relate to social anhedonia and depression. Additionally, AQ:Social and negative schizotypy traits were found to share a significant proportion of variance, independent of each of the socio-emotional variables examined. The results thus provide further evidence of shared atypical social function linked to both autistic-like traits and negative schizotypy traits, but importantly also highlight clear differences in the specific socio-emotional profiles associated with these sets of traits.     

Lean on me: The importance of one's own and partner's intercultural personality for expatriate's and expatriate spouse's successful adjustment abroad

This research explores the role of three intercultural personality traits—emotional stability, social initiative, and open-mindedness—as coping resources for expatriate couples’ adjustment. First, we examined the direct relationships of expatriates’ and expatriate spouses’ personality trait levels with psychological and sociocultural adjustment. Psychological adjustment refers to internal psychological outcomes such as mental health and personal satisfaction, whereas sociocultural adjustment refers to more externally oriented psychological outcomes that link the individual to the new environment. Second, we examined the association of expatriates’ personality trait levels with professional adjustment, which was defined in terms of job performance and organizational commitment. Cross-sectional analyses among 196 expatriates and expatriate spouses (i.e., 98 expatriate couples) revealed that the three dimensions are each associated with specific facets of adjustment. A longitudinal analysis among a subsample (45 couples) partially confirmed these findings. Furthermore, we obtained evidence for a resource compensation effect, that is, the compensatory process whereby one partner's lack of sufficiently high levels of a certain personality trait is compensated for by the other partner's high(er) levels of this traits. Through this resource compensation effect, the negative consequences of a lack of sufficient levels of a personality trait on adjustment can be diminished. Apparently, in the absence of sufficiently high trait levels, individuals can benefit from personality resources in their partners.     

Looking After Number One: Associations Between Psychopathic Traits and Measures of Social Motivation and Functioning in a Community Sample of Males

Individuals with high levels of psychopathic traits do not typically form enduring bonds with others. However, few studies have documented the associations between psychopathic traits and social functioning. This study systematically explored associations between psychopathic traits and a number of measures characterising social/material goals, social beliefs and the need for belonging, providing a comprehensive assessment of aspects of social functioning associated with psychopathic personality traits. Additionally, a novel experimental vignettes task assessed the extent to which participants identified dominance in themselves and admired this trait in others. Community males with high levels of psychopathic traits appeared not to be motivated by meaningful, long-term relationships. Instead, they seemed to be motivated by goals relating to their own image and financial success. Additionally, these individuals admired dominance in others, but did not clearly identify this trait in themselves. Thus, this study is one of the first to empirically explore multiple areas of social functioning in relation to psychopathic traits, with a view to understanding the social motivations of individuals with high levels of these traits. The findings provide empirical evidence that individuals with high levels of psychopathic traits seem motivated to look after themselves, but not others.     

Self-esteem and the Dual Processing of Interpersonal Contingencies

Social cognitive research has shown that individuals with low self-esteem exhibit contingency expectations involving interpersonal acceptance and rejection (e.g., If I fail, then I will be rejected). We examined whether the processing differences between low and high self-esteem individuals would be evident in their most spontaneous reactions, or only in relatively deliberate responses. A lexical decision task measured people's reaction times to positive or negative interpersonal words, following success or failure primes. The stimulus onset asynchrony was manipulated to allow spontaneous or deliberate processing. Individuals with low self-esteem exhibited contingencies at the spontaneous level. These contingencies were not evident in individuals with high self-esteem. The findings support interpersonal models of self-esteem, and confirm that controlled, deliberate thought is not required for the activation of relational expectations.     

Are autistic traits autistic?

According to the extreme male brain theory of autism ( Baron‐Cohen, 2002 ), autistic traits would be extreme manifestations of typical male behaviours. The Auyeung et al. (2009) paper establishes a link between autistic traits and higher fetal testosterone (fT) levels in typically developing children. We argue that the construct behind this relationship needs further investigation. First, the link between fT levels and sexually dimorphic traits, that are for example, associated with empathizing and systemizing, is controversial. Likewise, describing autistic behaviours as being extreme male‐like is debatable. The cerebral hemisphere laterality pattern of individuals with autism also seems to differ from the pattern typically observed in males. Moreover, the parallel that should exist, according to the fT theory, between individuals with autism and individuals with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), because of their high fT levels, is unclear. The theory implying fT levels in autism fails to account for a big part of autism, and the link between fT and normal ‘autistic traits’ hardly demonstrates the causal link between fT and autism.     

Psychopathic personality traits are linked to reduced false memories for negative events

Individuals scoring high on psychopathic personality traits process emotional material to a different extent than individuals with few psychopathic traits. Evidence exists that these individuals have impaired emotional memory. The question arises whether this emotional memory impairment has ramifications for the production of emotional false memories. In the present study, we investigated the production of false and true memories for emotional events in a community sample (N = 120) of individuals varying in psychopathic traits (evaluated with the Psychopathic Personality Inventory–Revised [PPI-R] questionnaire). The fearless dominance (FD) component of psychopathy interacted with the emotional impact of to-be-remembered events in the production of false memories, showing fewer negative false memories with increasing levels of FD. At the subjective level, negative false memories were not perceived as vivid memory experiences in high FD individuals. Concerning true memories, higher scores in cold-heartedness were related to fewer true memories for neutral and negative (but not positive) events. These results show that individuals with high psychopathy traits – in particular, FD – do not have a general emotional memory impairment but they process negative material in a different way than individuals with low psychopathic traits and thus are less susceptible to producing false memories for negative events.     

The Broader Autism Phenotype,Social Interaction Anxiety,and Loneliness: Implications for Social Functioning

Recent research has begun to focus on the subclinical presentation of autistic-like traits in individuals, a construct termed the broader autism phenotype (BAP). The presence of the BAP has been established in both first-degree relatives of individuals with autism as well as in the general population. The current study aimed to examine how self-reported BAP characteristics, social interaction anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation relate to social functioning (specifically, loneliness) in a sample of college students. Results showed that for all subjects, BAP, social interaction anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation did not predict loneliness in a regression model. However, for males these predictors accounted for approximately 48 % of the variance in loneliness scores. Among males, individuals rating themselves as having lower social skills, lower imagination, and higher social interaction anxiety were more likely to also report feeling lonely. These results indicate that the predictors used may function differently among males and females. Although BAP characteristics and social interaction anxiety may not be important correlates of social functioning for females in this sample, they appear to be very important for males’ subjective feelings of loneliness.     

人格特质及脑功能连接对社交网络的影响

采用网络分析的方法, 本研究从个体受欢迎程度和个体间亲密程度两方面探究了人格特质对社交网络的影响, 并在此基础上进一步探究了个体间大脑静息态功能连接相似性和社交网络的关系。结果发现：(1)高尽责性的个体在需要“值得信任”特质的社交网络中更受欢迎, 高宜人性的个体在需要“共享时光”的社交网络中更受欢迎; (2)在需要“相同兴趣”特质的社交网络中, 个体间人格相似性和社会距离呈显著负相关关系; (3)同样在需要“相同兴趣”特质的社交网络中, 个体间部分功能连接相似性与社会距离呈显著负相关关系, 这些功能连接主要集中在额顶控制网络以及背侧注意网络; 同时, 部分节点功能连接相似性与社会距离呈显著正相关关系, 这些功能连接主要集中在默认网络。研究结果揭示了人格特质对不同社交网络结构的影响, 以及个体间人格特质相似性和静息态脑网络相似性与社会距离的关系。本研究对理解社交网络的结构, 形成规律以及其中的信息传播规律有着重要启示意义。     

Startle modulation during violent films: Association with callous–unemotional traits and aggressive behavior

The current study examined the unique and interactive associations of callous–unemotional (CU) traits, impulsive and premeditated aggression with startle modulation to violent films. Eighty-five participants (Mage = 20.52) at differential risk of CU traits, selected from a sample of 1105 young adults, participated in the physiological experiment. Startle eye-blink responses to acoustic probes were recorded during violent, comedy and neutral films. Self-report ratings of valence and arousal were also collected. Findings from regression analysis documented that CU traits were associated with diminished startle potentiation to violent films, whereas impulsive aggression was associated with increases in startle potentiation. Further, the negative association between CU traits with startle potentiation, valence, and arousal ratings to violent films was moderated by impulsive aggression. At the group level, individuals high on impulsive aggression without CU traits were the ones showing the highest levels of startle potentiation to violent films, and scored on the opposite extreme compared to individuals high on both CU traits and impulsive aggression.     

Personality,Autonomy, and Contextual Performance of Managers

This study contributes to research on assessment centers' (AC) external construct-related validity by investigating a potential moderator of the relationship between personality and AC dimension ratings. On the basis of recent insights in person-situation contingencies we hypothesized that individual differences in people's perception of situational demands moderate the relationship between personality and conceptually related AC dimension ratings. The hypotheses were tested with 108 individuals in two leaderless group discussion exercises. Results confirmed the hypotheses for two of the three traits (i.e., Agreeableness and Conscientiousness). In particular, people high on these traits who identified the situational demands received higher AC dimension ratings. People high on these traits who did not identify the situational demands received lower AC dimension ratings.     

Personality profiles and health: Longitudinal evidence among Finnish adults

Kinnunen, M.‐L., Metsäpelto, R. L., Feldt, T., Kokko, K., Tolvanen, A., Kinnunen, U., Leppänen, E. & Pulkkinen, L. (2012). Personality profiles and health: Longitudinal evidence among Finnish adults. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 53, 512–522. This study investigates the associations of longitudinal Big Five personality profiles with long‐term health in 304 adults (53% males). Personality traits (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness) were assessed at ages 33, 42, and 50. Subjective (self‐rated health, symptoms, psychological distress) and objective (body mass index, waist‐to‐hip ratio, blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides) indicators of health were measured at ages 42 and 50. Five longitudinally stable personality profiles were extracted over 17 years by latent profile analysis. The levels of traits were the same in each profile at each age. Resilient individuals (N = 65; Neuroticism low, other traits high) had the best subjective health and Overcontrolled individuals (N = 40; Neuroticism high, other traits low) the poorest health over eight years. Reserved individuals (N = 25; high Conscientiousness, other traits low), Undercontrolled (N = 41; high Openness and Extraversion, low Conscientiousness), and Ordinary (N = 133; all traits scored medium) individuals were in the middle of these extremes in subjective health. No differences between the profiles were found in the objective indicators of health. Thus, overcontrol and resilience were most discriminative in terms of good health. Moreover, personality profiles revealed associations with health to be more nuanced than simply being composed of single traits. High Extraversion needed to be combined with high Conscientiousness (Resilients) in order to be associated with the best health; high Extraversion with low Conscientiousness (Undercontrolled) was associated with average health; and low Extraversion with high Neuroticism (Overcontrolled) was associated with the poorest health.