Comorbid psychopathological symptoms mediate the relationships between autistic traits and both well-being and neurocognitive functioning

Higher autistic traits are associated with poorer well-being and neurocognitive functioning in the general population. Given the connection between various psychopathological symptoms and autistic traits, as well as their influence across different domains, this study aimed to investigate whether comorbid psychopathological symptoms could explain the impacts of autistic traits on subjective well-being and neurocognitive functioning in a nonclinical sample. Fifty-nine young adults self-reported their autistic traits and symptoms of inattention/hyperactivity, depression, anxiety, and psychosis. Subjective well-being, defined by quality of life and satisfaction with life, was also measured. In addition, neurocognitive functioning was assessed using functional near-infrared spectroscopy, which measured frontal cortex activation during working memory and facial age/emotion recognition tasks. We found that higher levels of autistic traits were associated with increased symptoms across various psychopathologies and with lower subjective well-being and poorer cognitive functioning. However, multiple regression analyses showed that comorbid psychopathological symptoms, rather than autistic traits, predicted poorer well-being, reduced cognitive task performance, and lower frontal cortex activation during a challenging working memory task. One exception was the negative association between autistic traits and quality of life in social relationships, which was not predicted by comorbid psychopathology. Mediation analyses further revealed a mediating role of comorbid psychopathological symptoms in most of the relationships between autistic traits and well-being or cognitive task performance. Almost no relationships involving autistic traits remained significant after controlling for comorbid psychopathology. Overall, these findings have clarified the specificity and mechanisms underlying the impacts of autistic traits on well-being and cognitive task performance. They underscore the importance of considering comorbid psychopathological symptoms when trying to understand the impact of autistic traits on well-being and neurocognitive functioning.