Social and nonsocial reward moderate the relation between autism symptoms and loneliness in adults with ASD, depression, and controls

Han, Gloria T.; Tomarken, Andrew J.; Gotham, Katherine O.

doi:10.1002/aur.2088

Cited by 67Autism Spectrum Disorder ResearchAnxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive ProcessesSchizophrenia research and treatment

Social and nonsocial reward moderate the relation between autism symptoms and loneliness in adults with ASD, depression, and controls

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Han, Gloria T., Tomarken, Andrew J., Gotham, Katherine O.·2019·Autism Research

DOI 10.1002/aur.2088PMC PMC6620476

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Abstract

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) report high levels of co‐occurring mood disorders. Previous work suggests that people with ASD also experience aberrant responses to social reward compared to typically developing (TD) peers. In the TD population, aberrant reward processing has been linked to anhedonia (i.e., loss of pleasure), which is a hallmark feature of depression. This study examined the interplay between self‐reported pleasure from social and nonsocial rewards, autism symptom severity, loneliness, and depressive symptoms across adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; N = 49), TD currently depressed adults (TD‐dep; N = 30), and TD never depressed controls (TD‐con; N = 28). The ASD cohort reported levels of social and nonsocial anhedonia that were greater than TD‐con but not significantly different from TD‐dep. Across cohorts, both social and nonsocial hedonic capacity moderated the relationship between autism symptoms and loneliness: individuals with low capacity for pleasure experienced elevated loneliness regardless of autism symptom severity, while those with intact capacity for pleasure (i.e., less anhedonia) experienced greater loneliness as a function of increased autism symptoms. Loneliness was the strongest predictor of depressive symptoms across clinical cohorts. Our findings suggest a putative pathway from trait‐like anhedonia in ASD to depression via elevated loneliness and indicate that variability in hedonic capacity within the autism spectrum may differentially confer risk for depression in adults with ASD. Results underscore potential mental health benefits of social skills interventions and community inclusion programs for adults with ASD. Autism Res 2019, 12: 884–896 . © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Lay Summary: The relationship between autism symptoms and loneliness depended on one's ability to experience both social and nonsocial pleasure. Adults who experienced less pleasure reported high levels of loneliness that did not depend autism severity, while adults with high capacity for pleasure were especially lonely if they also had many autism symptoms. Loneliness was the strongest predictor of depressive symptoms, compared to capacity for social and nonsocial pleasure and autism symptoms.

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Social support is embedded in MBTs, and the lack thereof has been linked to loneliness and depression in adults with autism.
“social support is embedded in MBTs, and the lack thereof has been linked to loneliness and depression in adults with autism.18”
From Distinct and shared therapeutic neural mechanisms of mindfulness-based and social support stress reduction groups in adults with autism spectrum disorder (2023) · cites this paper as [18]
The Introduction’s “Loneliness” section (page not provided) links lower social support with loneliness and depressive symptoms in autism, and the Results identify loneliness as a predictor of depressive symptoms in the ASD cohort. The paper does not address MBTs or establish that social support is embedded in them. (LLM, conf=0.87)
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Authors: Han, G. T., Tomarken, A. J., & Gotham, K. O.
Affiliations: Vanderbilt University (US)
Vanderbilt University Medical Center (US)
Corresponding author: Gotham, Katherine O.
ORCID: Han, Gloria T.
Tomarken, Andrew J.
Gotham, Katherine O.
Venue: Autism Research
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 2019-03-02
Volume: 12
Issue: 6
Pages: 884-896
ISSN: 1939-3792 (ISSN-L)
1939-3806
DOI: 10.1002/aur.2088
PMC: PMC6620476
OpenAlex: W2919577393
Cited by: 67
References: 50
Citations by year: 2026: 5 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 2
FWCI: 5.09
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: green
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Licence: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor)
Locations: Autism Research (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders: Korea National Institute of Health (NIMH R01‐MH113576, K01‐MH103500, T32‐MH18921, EKS NICHD U54HD083211)
Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research
National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (UL1 TR000445)
Topics: Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Schizophrenia research and treatment
Keywords: autism spectrum disorder, loneliness, anhedonia, social reward, autism severity, depressive symptoms, depression, autistic adults, hedonic capacity, moderation, social skills intervention, community inclusion
MeSH terms: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Adolescent, Adult, Depressive Disorder, Female, Humans, Loneliness, Male, Reward, Social Behavior, Cohort Studies, Young Adult

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Social and nonsocial reward moderate the relation between autism symptoms and loneliness in adults with ASD, depression, and controls

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