An Expert Discussion on Autism in Postsecondary Education and the "Empowering Engines" Who Do Good.

Emotion dysregulation involves difficulty modulating the intensity, expression, or duration of emotional responses (; Sheppes et al., 2015). It is a core transdiagnostic feature of psychopathology that contributes to impaired interpersonal functioning and reduced quality of life (; Sheppes et al., 2015). Difficulties in emotion regulation are linked to a broad range of internalizing and externalizing problems, including depression, anxiety, substance use, and interpersonal dysfunction, underscoring its relevance across diagnostic categories (Aldao et al., 2010; Sheppes et al., 2015). Emotion dysregulation is especially pronounced in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), where chronic alterations in threat processing and arousal regulation can undermine the capacity to manage distressing emotions (). Core PTSD symptoms – including emotional numbing, hypervigilance, and difficulty managing distressing emotions – frequently lead to impaired social interactions, increased interpersonal conflicts, and feelings of detachment from others (Charuvastra & Cloitre, 2008; Nietlisbach & Maercker, 2009). These interpersonal disruptions underscore the need to identify the interpersonal processes through which emotion dysregulation shapes social functioning in PTSD. Central to effective interpersonal functioning is empathy, the capacity to understand and share the emotional experiences of others (). Empathy is conceptualized as multidimensional, encompassing perspective taking (adopting another's psychological viewpoint), empathic concern (sympathetic feelings toward others in distress), personal distress (self-oriented anxiety in response to others' distress), and fantasy (imaginative identification with others) (Davis, 1980; ). Personal distress is distinct as it may elicit self-focused motivation to reduce one's aversive experience (Batson, Fultz, & Schoenrade, 1987). Each empathy dimension may uniquely influence interpersonal relationships and emotional experiences, particularly in trauma-exposed populations where these processes may be significantly altered. Critically, effective responding requires regulating one's own emotional reactions to another's distress, positioning emotion dysregulation as a likely mechanism through which alterations in empathy may contribute to broader psychopathology (; ; ).