The effect of reappraisal on the emotional regulation of shame in young adults with ASD and typical peers

Abstract

Abstract Young adults with ASD experience shame in social interactions, and if poorly mishandled, it may interfere with their attempts to participate in their social environment. One strategy to reduce shame is cognitive reappraisal, yet the efficacy of this strategy was not examined in ASD. Here, we investigated the effect of reappraisal in reducing feelings of shame in ASD and the thematic contents used. Young adults with high-functioning ASD and typical participants were shown shame-arousing pictures. They imagined themselves as the primary character in each scenario and rated their feelings of shame. Then, they were trained to reappraise shame-arousing pictures less negatively. Finally, they viewed other shame-arousing photos, reappraised them, stated aloud their new interpretations, and rated their feelings. We found lower shame ratings in participants with ASD than in typical participants. In addition, we found a similar reduction in shame ratings after reappraising these pictures in both groups. Qualitative analysis revealed that participants with ASD used fewer positive narratives and more neutral and unrealistic descriptions than their typical peers. These findings highlight shame-regulation abilities in individuals with ASD while pointing to their unique narratives. We recommend that clinical interventions in ASD emphasize generating positive reappraisals of social situations.

Keywords

• Cognitive reappraisal
• Shame
• Emotion regulation
• Autism
• Social cognition