Autistic Traits and Social Anxiety in Chinese College Students: The Longitudinal Mediating Role of Rumination

IF 3.3 2区医学 Q1 PSYCHIATRY

Depression and Anxiety Pub Date : 2025-10-01 DOI:10.1155/da/6103362

Lulu Hou, Wendian Shi

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Abstract

Background

Autistic traits (ATs) and social anxiety (SA) are closely associated; however, few studies have investigated the potential mediating mechanism of this relationship using longitudinal data. This study examined: (1) the developmental trajectories of ATs, rumination, and SA among college students; (2) whether the baseline levels of ATs predicted the developmental trajectories of SA; and (3) whether the trajectories of rumination mediated this longitudinal association.

Methods

This study enrolled 397 college students to complete Broad Autism Phenotype Questionnaire, Discriminative Response Scale, and SA Disorder Dimension three times over the course of a year. Three unconditional latent growth models (LGMs) were first used to explore the trajectories of ATs, rumination, and SA, respectively. Then, a conditional LGM was used to examine the direct longitudinal association between ATs and SA. Finally, a structural equation model was further used to examine the longitudinal mediating role of rumination between ATs and SA.

Results

For college students, ATs remained relatively stable, whereas rumination and SA declined across the study period. Furthermore, ATs positively predicted the intercept of SA (β = 0.66, p < 0.001), and negatively predicted the slope of SA (β = −0.29, p < 0.001). More importantly, higher baseline levels of rumination mediated ATs on the baseline value of SA (0.14, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.08 0.22]), and slower rates of decline of rumination mediated ATs on the change in SA (−0.15, 95% CI [−0.46 −0.01]).

Conclusions

These results indicate that college is a critical period for the abatement of rumination and SA. Furthermore, rumination might be one of the mechanisms underlying the link between ATs and SA. Interventions to prevent the negative impact of ATs might help to decrease the risk of rumination and SA in the college students.

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中国大学生自闭特质与社交焦虑：反刍的纵向中介作用

孤独症特征（ATs）与社交焦虑（SA）密切相关；然而，很少有研究利用纵向数据调查这种关系的潜在中介机制。本研究考察了大学生反思维、反刍和情景反应的发展轨迹；(2) ATs的基线水平能否预测SA的发展轨迹；(3)反刍轨迹是否介导了这种纵向关联。方法对397名大学生进行为期一年三次的孤独症表型问卷、辨析反应量表和孤独症障碍量表的测试。本文首次采用3种无条件潜在生长模型（LGMs）分别探讨了ATs、反刍和SA的发展轨迹。然后，使用条件LGM来检验ATs和SA之间的直接纵向关联。最后，采用结构方程模型进一步考察反刍在ATs和SA之间的纵向中介作用。结果在整个研究期间，大学生的反刍行为和情景反应保持相对稳定，反刍行为和情景反应则有所下降。此外，ATs正预测SA的截距（β = 0.66, p < 0.001），负预测SA的斜率（β = - 0.29, p < 0.001）。更重要的是，反刍介导的ATs对SA基线值的影响较高（0.14,95%可信区间[CI][0.08 0.22]），反刍介导的ATs对SA变化的影响下降速度较慢（- 0.15,95% CI[- 0.46 - 0.01]）。结论大学时期是大学生反刍行为和SA减少的关键时期。此外，反刍可能是ATs和SA之间联系的机制之一。干预措施预防心理反应的负面影响可能有助于降低大学生反刍和心理反应的风险。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Depression and Anxiety 医学-精神病学

CiteScore

15.00

自引率

1.40%

发文量

审稿时长

4-8 weeks

期刊介绍： Depression and Anxiety is a scientific journal that focuses on the study of mood and anxiety disorders, as well as related phenomena in humans. The journal is dedicated to publishing high-quality research and review articles that contribute to the understanding and treatment of these conditions. The journal places a particular emphasis on articles that contribute to the clinical evaluation and care of individuals affected by mood and anxiety disorders. It prioritizes the publication of treatment-related research and review papers, as well as those that present novel findings that can directly impact clinical practice. The journal's goal is to advance the field by disseminating knowledge that can lead to better diagnosis, treatment, and management of these disorders, ultimately improving the quality of life for those who suffer from them.