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This page is an AI-assisted Turkish summary of the study presented at the 26th World Congress of Psychiatry. The study belongs to the presenting authors; please refer to the original source when citing it.

SO399

Emotional dysregulation in autism spectrum disorder: distinctive features and overlap with mood disorders

EMOTIONAL DYSREGULATION IN AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER: DISTINCT FEATURES AND OVERLAP WITH MOOD DISORDERS

Emotional dysregulation in autism spectrum disorder is a transdiagnostic vulnerability factor for mood disorders, operates through partly distinct mechanisms, and carries a risk of diagnostic misclassification.

The aim was to examine the distinctive features of emotional dysregulation (ED) in adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and its overlap with mood disorders, based on literature published between 2020 and 2026. PubMed, PsycINFO, and Scopus were searched for systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and observational studies on ED and comorbid mood disorders; pediatric studies and studies without standardized measures were excluded. A meta-analysis of 35 studies found that, among adults with ASD, the pooled current prevalence was 23% for depressive disorders and 27% for any anxiety disorder; lifetime prevalence was 37% and 42%, respectively. ED in ASD is characterized by prolonged emotional responses, often triggered by sensory overload and disruptions to routines, and is clinically distinct from the interpersonally driven dysregulation seen in mood and personality disorders. Alexithymia was identified as a significant mediating mechanism; evidence was reported that autistic traits predict anxiety and depression through a sequential pathway involving alexithymia and ED. In a recent systematic review, 91.66% of studies reported depressive presentations in ASD that extended beyond standard DSM-5-TR criteria, highlighting the risk of diagnostic misclassification. In conclusion, ED is considered a transdiagnostic vulnerability factor for mood disorders in ASD; accurate differential diagnosis and adapted psychotherapeutic approaches targeting alexithymia and emotion regulation are considered clinically necessary. The main limitation is the use of standard diagnostic instruments that have not been validated for ASD, which may lead to underidentification or misclassification of comorbid conditions.

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