Elucidating the structure of depressive symptoms, emotion regulation, and their interrelatedness in autistic adults: A network analysis

Relative to the general population, autistic adults are at elevated risk for depression. Factors related to this risk are poorly understood, yet identifying such factors is important for improving mental health in autistic people. Emotion regulation (ER) challenges may be one such factor. However, few studies have examined ER challenges and depression in autistic adults. We examined ER challenges, depressive symptomatology and their associations in 775 (aged 18-83 years) autistic adults using network analysis, a method that permits identification of key components of ER and depression and their interrelatedness. Three non-regularized weighted undirected networks were estimated: ER challenges, depressive symptomatology, and combined ER-depressive challenges. Community structures revealed in the ER challenges and depressive symptomatology networks align with theoretical/nosological models of ER challenges/depressive symptoms as well as extant research using network analysis to examine these constructs. The combined ER challenges-depressive symptomatology network indicated that ER challenges and depressive symptomatology are interrelated but distinct constructs. These preliminary findings using cross-sectional data provide a first step in understanding associations between a candidate factor in depression vulnerability in autistic adults—ER challenges—and identify important future research directions.