eprintid: 10205209
rev_number: 9
eprint_status: archive
userid: 699
dir: disk0/10/20/52/09
datestamp: 2025-02-26 17:28:50
lastmod: 2025-02-26 17:28:50
status_changed: 2025-02-26 17:28:50
type: article
metadata_visibility: show
sword_depositor: 699
creators_name: Westwood, Heather
creators_name: Mandy, Will
creators_name: Brewer, Rebecca
title: The Relationship Between Interoception, Alexithymia, Autistic Traits and Eating Pathology in Autistic Adults
ispublished: inpress
divisions: UCL
divisions: B02
divisions: C07
divisions: D05
divisions: F66
keywords: Autism, Eating disorder, Body image, Alexithymia, Interoception
note: © 2025 Springer Nature. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
abstract: This study investigated the mechanisms underlying disordered eating of autistic adults, by investigating associations between eating disorder (ED) symptoms and autistic traits; autism-specific atypical eating; alexithymia; interoception; and body image in autistic and non-autistic participants. Autistic adults (n = 196) and non-autistic adults (n = 206) completed online self-report measures assessing ED pathology, atypical eating, body image dissatisfaction, interoception, alexithymia, and autistic traits. Structural Equation Modelling tested a theoretical model of the relationships between these variables, and whether these relationships were moderated by autism diagnosis. Autistic adults self-reported higher ED pathology than non-autistic adults. The proposed model and the strength of the relationship between body image and ED pathology did not differ between the autistic and non-autistic groups. Atypical eating (not related to over-evaluation of weight/shape), however, was only associated with ED pathology in the autistic group. Both traditional and additional factors, including eating disturbances not driven by weight/shape concern, appear to contribute to ED pathology in autism.
date: 2025-02-14
date_type: published
publisher: SPRINGER/PLENUM PUBLISHERS
official_url: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-024-06708-5
oa_status: green
full_text_type: pub
language: eng
primo: open
primo_central: open_green
verified: verified_manual
elements_id: 2363104
doi: 10.1007/s10803-024-06708-5
medium: Print-Electronic
pii: 10.1007/s10803-024-06708-5
lyricists_name: Mandy, William
lyricists_id: WMAND51
actors_name: Mandy, William
actors_id: WMAND51
actors_role: owner
funding_acknowledgements: [Medical Research Council]
full_text_status: public
publication: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
pages: 14
event_location: United States
citation:        Westwood, Heather;    Mandy, Will;    Brewer, Rebecca;      (2025)    The Relationship Between Interoception, Alexithymia, Autistic Traits and Eating Pathology in Autistic Adults.                   Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders        10.1007/s10803-024-06708-5 <https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-024-06708-5>.    (In press).    Green open access   
 
document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10205209/3/Mandy_The%20Relationship%20Between%20Interoception%2C%20Alexithymia%2C%20Autistic%20Traits%20and%20Eating%20Pathology%20in%20Autistic%20Adults_VoR.pdf