Alexithymia and Personality Factors Among Students With and Without Autism Spectrum Disorder

Objectives: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), is a group of neurodevelopmental disorders associated with -diverse communicative problems and Asperger&rsquo;s syndrome. The aim of this study was to compare alexithymia and personality factors in students with and without ASD. Methods: In this study 120 male students with and without ASD were included. All the students were from Rasht city, studying in the academic year 2016-2017. The students were asked to take up Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) and Big Five Questionnaire for Children (BFQ-C). Statistical comparison within the variables were carried out by Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA). The probability value less than 0.05 considered to be significant.&nbsp; Results: The MANOVA of results showed a significantly higher mean scores of alexithymia components and neuroticism in the students with ASD. However, the mean scores of agreeableness, extraversion, openness to experience and conscientiousness were significantly lower in the students with ASD (P<0.001). Discussion: The results garnered from this study implied that alexithymia and personality factors were significantly influenced by ASD. The findings of this research persuaded the pivotal implication of aforesaid facts on education and mental health of the students.