ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at how people manage their strong negative feelings and anxieties. Autism spectrum disorders are often associated with difficulties for the child or adult with the diagnosis to be able to manage difficult feelings and also for their parents and other family members. The chapter looks at emotional regulation in general terms with some detailed exploration of attachment theory as offering a model of how children develop strategies to manage their feelings. Attachment theory can be regarded as predominantly a theory of emotional regulation: when an infant is frightened, distressed or anxious they turn to their parents for protection and reassurance. Attachment strategies influence how people react emotionally and cognitively to both negative and positive emotional experiences. Attachment theory suggests that there are patterns for how children learn to expect to be looked after when they feel anxious or distressed.
