The relationships between sensory processing sensitivity, alexithymia, autism, depression, and anxiety

The goal of the current investigation was to better understand the relationships between the three recently-developed factors of sensory processing sensitivity (ease of excitation – EOE, low sensory threshold – LST, and aesthetic sensitivity – AES) and alexithymia, autism symptoms, anxiety, and depression. Two hundred and one college students completed the highly sensitive person scale, as well as measures of anxiety, depression, alexithymia, and autism symptoms. EOE and LST were related to autism symptoms, alexithymia, anxiety, and depression. AES was related to attention to details (a symptom of autism) and anxiety but not to depression. It was also negatively related to externally-oriented thinking (a symptom of alexithymia). Results indicate that AES is conceptually distinct from LST and EOE. Furthermore, EOE interacted with difficulty identifying feelings in predicting anxiety, indicating that being both easily excited by stimuli and unable to identify one’s feelings is particularly anxiety provoking. 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Individuals may process sensory information differently (Aron & Aron, 1997; Dunn, 2001). Aron and Aron hypothesized that some individuals may notice and respond to less intense or a greater number of stimuli in the environment than others. The construct of sensory processing sensitivity was most thoroughly explored in a series of studies that resulted in the development and validation of the highly sensitive person scale (HSPS; Aron & Aron, 1997). The HSPS measures sensitivity to a variety of stimulation such as pain, caffeine, hunger, violent movies, and loud noises. It also includes items that ask whether the individual feels overwhelmed or frazzled by sensory experiences. Other items tap a more artistic or emotional sensitivity such as whether the individual enjoys or is deeply moved by music or fine art and whether the individual has a complex inner life. Although research on this construct is somewhat limited, several studies have suggested that sensory processing sensitivity is associated with negative clinical outcomes. It has been found to be related to social phobia (Neal, Edelmann, & Glachan, 2002), avoidant personality disorder (Meyer & Carver, 2000), anxiety and depression (Liss, Timmel, Baxley, & Killingsworth, 2005), perceived stress and ill-health (Benham, 2006), and agoraphobic avoidance (Hofmann & Bitran, 2007). Sensory processing sensitivity may interact with other variables to produce negative clinical outcomes. For example, Aron, Aron, and Davies (2005) showed that highly sensitive people were more prone to experience anxiety and depression but only in the context of poor parental environments. Other research has shown that low levels of parental care were related to depression among highly sensitive people in particular (Liss et al., 2005). However, sensory processing sensitivity has also been shown to produce negative clinical outcomes directly. For example, sensory processing sensitivity related to anxiety without interacting with parental variables (Liss et al., 2005). It also failed to interact with level of stress when predicting ill health, indicating that highly sensitive people are more likely to report being in poor health, whether or not they are under stress (Benham, 2006). Although Aron and Aron (1997) conceptualized sensory processing sensitivity as one coherent construct, recent research suggests that it may encompass multiple constructs. A three-factor model of the HSPS has been explored and validated (Smolewska, McCabe, & Woody, 2006). Smolewska et al. conducted exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and determined that the HSPS consisted of three constructs: ease of excitation (EOE), low sensory threshold (LST), and aesthetic sensitivity (AES). These constructs related differentially to behavioral activation and inhibition as well as to the Big Five. Smolewska et al. found that some negative outcomes associated with sensory processing sensitivity in previous literature may be better understood as relating to EOE and LST, rather than to AES. EOE and LST demonstrated similar patterns of correlation and were highly correlated with each other (r = .73). Thus, these may represent a single factor. One construct that is likely related differentially to the factors of sensory processing sensitivity is autism symptoms. Individuals with autism are known to be overly sensitive to physical stimuli (Liss, Saulnier, Fein, & Kinsbourne, 2006; Watling, Deitz, & White, 2001), but they are not emotionally sensitive or attuned to 0191-8869/$ see front matter 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2008.04.009 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 540 654 1552; fax: +1 540 654 1836. E-mail address: mliss@umw.edu (M. Liss). Personality and Individual Differences 45 (2008) 255–259