Understanding the Relationship Between Autistic Traits and Social Anxiety and the Moderating Role of Emotional Intelligence in Italian Children

Since its initial discovery, our understanding of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has evolved toward a dimensional, non-pathologizing perspective. Beyond clinically diagnosed cases, autistic traits are increasingly recognized in non-diagnosed individuals who fall below diagnostic thresholds yet still experience meaningful difficulties, including social anxiety. Especially children experiencing higher levels of social anxiety might also exhibit higher levels of autistic traits, which both lead to important difficulties in daily, academic, and social-emotional functioning. Additionally, emotional intelligence (EI) might play an important role in this relationship between autistic traits and social anxiety. Therefore, we aimed to explore the relationship between autistic traits, social anxiety, and EI from a dimensional perspective and to investigate whether EI moderates the association between autistic traits and social anxiety. Parents of 248 typically developing Italian children aged 6–12 years completed measures of autistic traits (SRS-2), social anxiety (SPAI-C–Parent Report), and perceived EI (PTMMS). Correlational analyses and hierarchical regression models were performed to test three hypotheses; (1) autistic traits, social anxiety, and EI would be interrelated, such that autistic traits and social anxiety would be positively correlated, whereas both autistic traits and social anxiety would be negatively correlated with EI; (2) social anxiety would predict the variance in autistic traits; (3) EI would negatively moderate the relationship between autistic traits and social anxiety. Results revealed that autistic traits were positively associated with social anxiety and negatively associated with EI, whereas social anxiety and EI were not found to be significantly correlated. Moreover, social anxiety significantly predicted variance in autistic traits. EI moderated the relationship between social anxiety and autistic traits; however, contrary to expectations, higher levels of EI amplified the positive association between social anxiety and autistic traits. These findings strengthen the literature on the associations between autistic traits and social anxiety in the general population and highlight the complex role of EI in social-emotional functioning, suggesting that emotional skills may differentially interact with social anxiety in the expression of autistic traits in childhood. Some limitations of this study include its correlational design, exclusive reliance on parent reports, culturally narrow sample, and the use of an EI measure that might lead to uneven weighing of emotional skills, all of which may constrain interpretation and ecological validity. Nevertheless, these findings emphasize the need for early monitoring and support in clinical and educational practices, including Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) in classrooms.