Understanding the contributions of trait autism and anxiety to extreme demand avoidance in the adult general population

White, Rhianna, Livingston, Lucy A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8597-6525, Taylor, Emily C., Close, Scarlett A. D., Shah, Punit and Callan, Mitchell J. 2023. Understanding the contributions of trait autism and anxiety to extreme demand avoidance in the adult general population. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 53 , pp. 2680-2688. 10.1007/s10803-022-05469-3

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Abstract

Autism and anxiety are thought to be related to extreme demand avoidance (EDA), which is characterised by intense avoidance of everyday demands. However, the relative importance of autism and anxiety to EDA has yet to be investigated, and little is known about EDA in adulthood. We conducted two online survey studies (Ns = 267 and 549) with adults in the general population to establish the relative importance of autistic traits and anxiety as predictors of demand avoidance, using dominance analysis. Both autistic traits and anxiety were unique and equally important predictors of demand avoidance. These findings suggest EDA is linked to autism and are consistent with the theory that demand avoidance behaviours are potentially anxiety-driven in adults.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute (NMHRI) Medicine
Publisher:	Springer
ISSN:	0162-3257
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	7 March 2022
Date of Acceptance:	28 January 2022
Last Modified:	20 Jul 2023 17:48
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/148076

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