The Heightened Vulnerability of Developing Post-Traumatic Symptoms among Individuals with Autistic Traits: The Role of Trauma Exposure, Emotion Dysregulation, Rumination, and Perceived Social Support.

Abstract

This study aims to explore the role of trauma exposure, emotion regulation difficulties, rumination, and perceived social support in predicting trauma symptoms among individuals with autistic traits (AT) in a sample of 175 individuals (125 women). AT and trauma symptoms were positively and strongly correlated. In addition, AT predicted trauma symptoms over and above perceived social support and trauma exposure. Together, the three variables accounted for 30 % of the variance in trauma symptoms. Also, both emotion regulation difficulties and rumination proved to mediate the relationship between AT and trauma symptoms. These findings provide clear implications for further research to better understand the association between AT and trauma symptoms, considering other possible common underlying mechanisms.