TY - JOUR
T1 - Self-Disorders in Individuals with Autistic Traits
T2 - Contribution of Reduced Autobiographical Reasoning Capacities
AU - Berna, Fabrice
AU - Göritz, Anja S.
AU - Schröder, Johanna
AU - Coutelle, Romain
AU - Danion, Jean Marie
AU - Cuervo-Lombard, Christine V.
AU - Moritz, Steffen
PY - 2016/8/1
Y1 - 2016/8/1
N2 - The present web-based study (N = 840) aimed to illuminate the cognitive mechanisms underlying self-disorders in autism. Initially, participants selected three self-defining memories. Then, we assessed their capacity to give meaning to these events (i.e., meaning making), their tendency to scrutinize autobiographical memory to better understand themselves (i.e., self-continuity function of autobiographical memory) and their clarity of self-concept. The results showed that individuals with high autistic traits (ATs) had a lower clarity of self-concept than control participants. Meaning making was also reduced in AT individuals and mediated the relation between AT and self-concept clarity. Our results suggest that the reduced clarity of self-concept in AT individuals is related to an impaired capacity to make meaning of important past life events.
AB - The present web-based study (N = 840) aimed to illuminate the cognitive mechanisms underlying self-disorders in autism. Initially, participants selected three self-defining memories. Then, we assessed their capacity to give meaning to these events (i.e., meaning making), their tendency to scrutinize autobiographical memory to better understand themselves (i.e., self-continuity function of autobiographical memory) and their clarity of self-concept. The results showed that individuals with high autistic traits (ATs) had a lower clarity of self-concept than control participants. Meaning making was also reduced in AT individuals and mediated the relation between AT and self-concept clarity. Our results suggest that the reduced clarity of self-concept in AT individuals is related to an impaired capacity to make meaning of important past life events.
KW - Autism
KW - Autobiographical memory
KW - Autobiographical reasoning
KW - Self
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84964341397&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10803-016-2797-2
DO - 10.1007/s10803-016-2797-2
M3 - Article
C2 - 27101235
AN - SCOPUS:84964341397
SN - 0162-3257
VL - 46
SP - 2587
EP - 2598
JO - Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
JF - Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
IS - 8
ER -