Immersive and Maladaptive Daydreaming and Divergent Thinking in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Abstract

Little is known about the internal mental experiences of individuals with ASD. While some research suggests a limited capacity for imagination, other studies show heightened interest in fantasy and unique forms of creative thinking in ASD. This study explored daydreaming experiences in adults with ASD, with a focus on immersive daydreaming and its relation to divergent thinking abilities. Individuals with and without a diagnosis of ASD were surveyed on their daydreaming habits and completed a divergent thinking task. Experiences of immersive daydreaming were identified in 42% of adults with ASD and were related to broad ASD traits in those without a diagnosis of ASD. However, ASD diagnosis was unrelated to originality of divergent thinking, which was negatively associated with immersive daydreaming. Moreover, daydreaming experiences in ASD were diverse. A more nuanced understanding of the mental experiences in ASD may assist in the development of interventions and support for this population.

Keywords

daydreaming imagination creativity autism

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Abu-Akel

Apperly

Spaniol

M. M.

Geng

J. J.

Mevorach

. (2018). Diametric effects of autism tendencies and psychosis proneness on attention control irrespective of task demands. Scientific Reports, 8(8478), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-26821-7

Abu-Akel

Webb

M. E.

de Montpellier

Von Bentivegni

Luechinger

Ishii

Mohr

. (2020). Autistic and positive schizotypal traits respectively predict better convergent and divergent thinking performance. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 36, Article 100656. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2020.100656

Adler

L. A.

Faraone

S. V.

Sarocco

Atkins

Khachatryan

. (2018). Establishing US norms for the adult ADHD self-report scale (ASRS-v1.1) and characterising symptom burden among adults with self-reported ADHD. International Journal of Clinical Practice, 73(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcp.13260

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). American Psychiatric Association. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596

Antshel

K. M.

Zhang-James

Wagner

K. E.

Ledesma

Faraone

S. V

. (2016). An update on the comorbidity of ADHD and ASD: A focus on clinical management. Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, 16(3), 279–293. https://doi.org/10.1586/14737175.2016.1146591

Barneveld

P.S.

Pieterse

De Sonneville

Van Rijn

Lahuis

Van Engeland

Swaab

. (2011). Overlap of autistic and schizotypal traits in adolescents with autism spectrum disorders. Schizophrenia Research, 126, 231–236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2010.09.004

Baron-Cohen

Wheelwright

Skinner

Martin

Clubley

. (2001). The autism-Spectrum quotient (AQ): Evidence from asperger syndrome/high-functioning autism, males and females, scientists and mathematicians. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 31(1), 5–17. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005653411471

Benedek

Mühlmann

Jauk

Neubauer

A. C

. (2013). Assessment of divergent thinking by means of the subjective top-scoring method: Effects of the number of top-ideas and time-on-task on reliability and validity. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 7(4), 341–349. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033644

Benjamini

Hochberg

. (1995). Controlling the false discovery rate: A practical and powerful approach to multiple testing. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series B, 57(1), 289–300. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2517-6161.1995.tb02031.x

10.

Best

Arora

Porter

Doherty

. (2015). The relationship between subthreshold autistic traits, ambiguous figure perception and divergent thinking. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 45, 4064–4073. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2518-2

11.

Bigelsen

Lehrfeld

J.M.

Jopp

D.S.

Somer

. (2016). Maladaptive daydreaming: Evidence for an under-researched mental health disorder. Consciousness and Cognition, 42, 254–266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2016.03.017

12.

Bigelsen

Schupak

. (2011). Compulsive fantasy: Proposed evidence of an under-reported syndrome through a systematic study of 90 self-identified non-normative fantasizers. Consciousness and Cognition, 20, 1634–1648. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2011.08.013

13.

Chisholm

Lin

Abu-Akel

Wood

S. J

. (2015) The association between autism and schizophrenia spectrum disorders: A review of eight alternate models of co-occurrence. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 55, 173–183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.04.012

14.

Claridge

McDonald

. (2009). An investigation into the relationships between convergent and divergent thinking, schizotypy, and autistic traits. Personality and Individual Differences, 46(8), 794–799. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2009.01.018

15.

Cochran

D. M.

Dvir

Frazier

J. A

. (2013). “Autism-plus” spectrum disorders: Intersection with psychosis and the schizophrenia spectrum. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 22(4), 609–627. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chc.2013.04.005

16.

Craig

Baron-Cohen

. (1999). Creativity and imagination in autism and asperger syndrome. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 29(4), 319–326. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022163403479

17.

Crespi

Leach

Dinsdale

Mokkonen

Hurd

. (2016). Imagination in human social cognition, autism, and psychotic-affective conditions. Cognition, 150, 181–199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2016.02.001

18.

Fein

. (2015). Making meaningful worlds: Role-playing subcultures and the autism spectrum. Culture, Medicine & Psychiatry, 39, 299–321. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11013-015-9443-x

19.

Gimenez-Dasi

Pons

Bender

P. K

. (2016). Imaginary companions, theory of mind and emotion understanding in young children. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 24(2), 186–197. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293X.2014.919778

20.

Greene

West

Somer

. (2020). Maladaptive daydreaming and emotional regulation difficulties: A network analysis. Psychiatric Research, 285, Article 112799. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.112799

21.

Guilford

J. P.

(1967). The nature of human intelligence. McGraw-Hill.

22.

Gutermuth Anthony

Kenworthy

Yerys

B. E.

Jankowski

K. F.

James

J. D.

Harms

M. B.

Martin

& Wallace

L . (2013). Interests in high-functioning autism are more intense, interfering, and idiosyncratic, but not more circumscribed, than those in neurotypical development. Developmental Psychopathology, 25(3), 643–652. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579413000072

23.

Haag

Botbol

Graignic

Perez-Diaz

Bronsard

Kermarrec

Clement

M-C

Tordjman

. (2010). The autism psychodynamic evaluation of changes (APEC) scale: A reliability and validity study on a newly developed standardized psychodynamic assessment for youth with pervasive developmental disorders. Journal of Physiology-Paris, 104(6), 323–336. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jphysparis.2010.10.002

24.

Happe

Vital

. (2009). What aspects of autism predispose to talent? Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences, 364(1522), 1369–1375. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2008.0332

25.

Hoekstra

R. A.

Bartels

Cath

D. C.

Boomsma

D. I

. (2008). Factore structure, reliability and criterion validity of the autism spectrum quotient (AQ): A study in Dutch population and patient groups. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38, 1555–1566. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-008-0538-x

26.

Jankowska

D. M.

Omelańczuk

Czerwonka

Karwowski

. (2019). Exploring links between creative abilities, creative personality and subclinical autistic traits. Personality and Individual Differences, 142, 226–231. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.05.008

27.

Kana

R. K.

Keller

T. A.

Cherkassky

V. L.

Minshew

N. J.

Just

M. A

. (2006). Sentence comprehension in autism: Thinking in pictures with decreased functional connectivity. Brain, 129(9), 2484–2493. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awl164

28.

Kanter

. (1982). Divergent thinking abilities as a function of daydreaming frequency. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 5(1), 12–23. https://doi.org/10.1177/016235328200500103

29.

Kessler

R. C.

Adler

L. A.

Gruber

M. J.

Sarawate

C. A.

Spencer

Van Brunt

D. L

. (2007). Validity of the world health organization adults ADHD self-report scale (ASRS) screener in a representative sample of health plan members. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 16(2), 52–65. https://doi.org/10.1002/mpr.208

30.

Liu

M-J.

Shih

W.-L.

L.-Y

. (2011). Are children with asperger syndrome creative in divergent thinking and feeling? A brief report. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 116, 7–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2010.04.011

31.

Mariani

Musetti

Di Monte

Danskin

Franceschini

Christian

. (2021). Maladaptive daydreaming in relation to linguistic features and attachment style. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(1), 386. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19010386

32.

Mazurek

M. O.

Engelhardt

C. R.

Clark

K. E.

(2015). Video games from the perspective of adults with autism spectrum disorder. Computers in Human Behavior, 51(A), 122–130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.04.062

33.

Mazurek

M. O.

Wenstrup

. (2013). Television, video game and social media use among children with ASD and typically developing siblings. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 43(6), 1258–1271. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-012-1659-9

34.

McMillan

R. L.

Kaufman

S. B.

Singer

J. L

. (2013). Ode to positive constructive daydreaming. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, e626. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00626

35.

Musetti

Franceschini

Pingani

Freda

M.F.

Saita

EW.

Vegni

Zenesini

Schimmenti

. (2021). Maladaptive daydreaming in an adult Italian population during the COVID-19 lockdown. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, Article 631979. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.631979

36.

Nakagawa

Chinba

. (2016). Involvement of neuroinflammation during brain development in social cognitive deficits in autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 358(3), 504–515. https://doi.org/10.1124/jpet.116.234476

37.

Oatley

. (2012). The passionate muse: Exploring emotion in stories. The Scientific Study of Literature, 2(2), 322–325. https://doi.org/10.1075/ssol.2.2.08koo

38.

Pastor-Cerezuela

Fernández-Andrés

M-I.

Feo-Álvarez

González-Sala

. (2016). Semantic verbal fluency in children with and without autism spectrum disorder: Relationship with chronological age and IQ. Frontiers in Psychology, 17, Article 921. https://doi/org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00921

39.

Radeloff

Ciaramidaro

Siniatchkin

Hainz

Schlitt

Weber

Poustka

… & Freitag, C. M. (2014). Structural alterations of the social brain: A comparison between schizophrenia and autism. Plos One, 9(9), e106539. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0106539

40.

Reiter-Palmon

Forthmann

Barbot

. (2019). Scoring divergent thinking tests: A review and systematic framework. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 13(2), 144–152. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000227

41.

Rosello

Berenguer

Baixauli

Garcia

Miranda

. (2020). Theory of mind profiles in children with autism spectrum disorder. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, article 567401. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.567401

42.

Rozema

. (2015). Manga and the autistic mind. English Journal, 105(1), 60-68.

43.

Russ

S. W.

Wallace

C. E

. (2013). Pretend play and creative processes. American Journal of Play, 6(1), 136–148.

44.

Rutherford

M. D.

Rogers

S. J

. (2003). Cognitive underpinnings of pretend play in autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 33(3), 289–302. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1024406601334

45.

Ruzich

Allison

Smith

Watson

Auyeung

Ring

Baron-Cohen

. (2015). Measuring autistic traits in the general population: A systematic review of the autism-spectrum quotient (AQ) in a nonclinical population sample of 6,900 typical males and females. Molecular Autism, 6(2), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1186/2040-2392-6-2

46.

Sánchez-Bernardos

M. L.

Avia

M. D

. (2006). The relationship between fantasy proneness and schizotypy in adolescents. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 194(6), 411–414. https://doi/org/10.1097/01.nmd.0000222406.16820.13.

47.

Sándor

Bugán

Nagy

Bogdán

L.S.

Molnár

. (2021). Attachment characteristics and emotion regulation difficulties among maladaptive and normal daydreamers. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01546-5

48.

Scott

F. J.

(2013). The development of imagination in children with autism. In Taylor

(Eds), The Oxford handbook of the development of imagination. Oxford Handbooks Online.

49.

Silvia

P. J.

Winterstein

B. P.

Willse

J. T.

Barona

C. M.

Cram

J. T.

Hess

K. I.

Martinez

J. L.

Richard

C. A

. (2008). Assessing creativity with divergent thinking tasks: Exploring the reliability and validity of new subjective scoring methods. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 2(2), 68–85. https://doi.org/10.1037/1931-3896.2.2.68

50.

Singer

J. L.

(1975). The inner world of daydreaming. Harper & Row.

51.

Slater

Steed

McCarthy

Maringelli

. (1998). The influence of body movement on presence in virtual environments. Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 40(3), 469-477. https://doi.org/10.1518/001872098779591368

52.

Somer

. (2002). Maladaptive daydreaming: A qualitative inquiry. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 32(2/3), 197–212. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020597026919

53.

Somer

Herscu

. (2017). Childhood trauma, social anxiety, absorption and fantasy dependence: Two potential mediated pathways to maladaptive daydreaming. Journal of Addictive Behaviors, Therapy & Rehabilitation, 6(3), 1-5. https://doi.org/10.4172/2324-9005.1000170

54.

Somer

Lehrfeld

Jopp

D.S.

Bigelsen

. (2016). Development and validation of the maladaptive daydreaming scale (MDS). Consciousness and Cognition, 39, 77–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2015.12.001

55.

Somer

Soffer-Dudek

Ross

C. A

. (2017). The comorbidity of daydreaming disorder (maladaptive daydreaming). Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 205(7), 525–530. https://doi.org/10.1097/NMD.0000000000000685

56.

Somer

Halpern

. (2019). Representations of maladaptive daydreaming and the self: A qualitative analysis of drawings. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 63, 102–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2018.12.004

57.

Soulieres

Zeffiro

T. A.

Girard

M. L.

Mottron

. (2011). Enhanced mental image mapping in autism. Neuropsychologia, 49(5), 848–857. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.01.027

58.

Taruffi

. (2021). Mind-wandering during personal music listening in everyday life: Music-evoked emotions predict thought valence. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(23). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182312321

59.

Theodor-Katz

(2019). A daydream or an attention deficit? The relationship between Maladaptive Daydreaming and Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity disorder among individuals with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Israel) (in Hebrew - English Abstract).

60.

Tordjman

Celume

M. P.

Denis

Motillon

Keromnes

. (2019). Reframing schizophrenia and autism as bodily self-consciousness disorders leading to a deficit of theory of mind and empathy with social communication impairments. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 103, 401–413. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.04.007

61.

Tordjman

Maillhes

A.-S

. (2009). Developmental disorder in body image occuring in early childhood: A common dimension shared by schizophrenia and autism? Neuropsychiatrie de L’Enfance et de L’Adolescence, 57(1), 6–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurenf.2008.09.005

62.

Visuri

. (2017). A room of one’s own: Autistic imagination as a stage for parasocial interaction and social learning. Journal for the Cognitive Science of Religion, 5(1), 100–124. https://doi.org/10.1558/jcsr.37518

63.

Wallach

M. A.

Kogan

(1965). Modes of thinking in young children: A study of the creativity–intelligence distinction. Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.

64.

West

Somer

. (2019). Empathy, emotion regulation and creativity in immersive daydreaming. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 39(4), 358–373. https://doi.org/10.1177/0276236619864277

65.

Zabelina

D. L.

Condon

Beeman

. (2014). Do dimensional psychopathology measures relate to creative achievement or divergent thinking? Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01029

66.

Zedelius

C. M.

Protzko

Broadway

J. M.

Schooler

J. W

. (2021). What types of daydreaming predict creativity? Laboratory and experience sampling evidence. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 15(4), 596–611. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000342

67.

Zhou

H. Y.

Yang

H. X.

Gong

J. B.

Cheung

E. F. C.

Gooding

D. C

Park

Chan

R. C. K

. (2019). Revisiting the overlap between autistic and schizotypal traits in the non-clinical population using meta-analysis and network analysis. Schizophrenia Research, 212, 6–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2019.07.050