Anxiety and Quality of Life: Clinically Anxious Children With and Without Autism Spectrum Disorders Compared

Abstract

Comorbid anxiety disorders are common in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, studies comparing children with ASD to clinically anxious children are rare. This study investigated anxiety problems and health-related quality of life in children with high-functioning ASD and comorbid anxiety disorders (referred to as the ASD group), compared with children with anxiety disorders (referred to as the AD group). In total, 237 families participated; 115 children were in the ASD group (90 boys and 25 girls, M age = 11.37 years), and 122 children were in the AD group (62 boys and 60 girls, M age = 12.79 years). Anxiety disorders, anxiety symptoms, ASD-like symptoms, and health-related quality of life were assessed with the ADIS-C/P, SCARED-71, CSBQ, and EuroQol-5D, respectively. The number and types of anxiety disorders, as well as their severity, were similar in the ASD and AD groups; however, specific phobias were more common in the ASD group than in the AD group. As compared to the AD group, parents from the ASD group reported their children to have higher scores for total anxiety, social anxiety disorder, and panic disorder. More ASD-like behaviors and higher anxiety severity predicted a lower quality of life, irrespective of group. The results of this study support a highly similar phenotype of anxiety disorders in children with ASD; however, additional research is needed to examine the etiology and treatment effectiveness of anxiety disorders in children with ASD.

Applying a developmental approach to quality of life assessment in children and adolescents with psychological disorders: challenges and guidelines

“…Only three (5%) studies used instruments developed to assess QL in adult populations (SF-36 and EuroQoL-5D) [66,[85][86]. Among the studies that used age-appropriate instruments, the majority assessed multiple dimensions of QL (n = 52; 83%) [13-14, 49,52,60,73,84,87,89], and two (3%) studies did not provide information about the instruments' dimensions used in the study [82][83].…”

“…The reviewed studies were conducted in several countries, including the US (n = 26) [24, 32-33, 37, 43, 45-47, 51, 53, 59-60, 63-64, 67-68, 72-74, 76-78, 86-87, 89, 91]; Germany (n = 6) [40,44,48,54,79,92]; Switzerland (n = 3) [23, 82,84]; the Netherlands (n = 4) [13,38,52,66]; Australia (n = 3) [14,[49][50]; Turkey (n = 3) [41,61,80]; Brazil (n = 2) [39,83]; Spain (n = 2) [36,85]; Italy (n = 2) [70,71]; Taiwan (n = 2) [55][56]; Iran (n = 1) [42]; UK (n = 1) [69]; Norway (n = 1) [35]; Hungary (n = 1) [88]; France (n = 1) [58]; Canada (n = 1) [18]; Japan (n = 1) [81]; Greece (n = 1) [90]; and Mexico (n = 1) [57]. Four studies were conducted in two or more countries [34,62,65,75].…”

“…As shown in Table 2, studies examining the QL of children with the following diagnoses of mental disorder were included: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; n = 27) [18; 32-57]; autism spectrum disorder (n = 10) [58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67]; Gilles de la Tourette syndrome or other tic disorder (n = 6) [68][69][70][71][72][73]; bipolar spectrum disorders (n = 5) [74][75][76][77][78]; enuresis (n = 3) [79][80][81]; separation anxiety disorder and anxiety disorders (n = 3) [82][83][84]; eating disorders (n = 2) [85][86]; major depressive disorder (n = 2) [87][88]; conduct disorder (n = 1) [89]; obsessive-compulsive disorder (n = 1) [24]; and learning disabilities (n = 1) [90]. Five studies included diverse diagnoses of a mental disorder [13-14, 23, 91-92].…”

Modeling the cognitive mechanisms linking autism symptoms and anxiety in adults.

“…Anxiety is closely linked to poor quality of life (van Steensel, Bögels, & Dirksen, 2012) and thought to compound the core clinical symptoms of ASD because of a bi-directional link between social-cognitive skills and anxiety (White, Oswald, Ollendick, & Scahill, 2009). …”

Mapping Real-World to Online Vulnerability in Young People with Developmental Disorders: Illustrations from Autism and Williams Syndrome

“…Those experiencing depression or loneliness may be more motivated to seek solace in contacting strangers online (Wolak et al, 2004), and likewise, those with anxiety may feel protected by the diminished social presence that they usually struggle with, providing social stimulation without much of the social anxiety (Tian, 2013). This is of particular significance when considering the online vulnerability of individuals with ASD, as a recent meta-analysis estimated that anxiety disorders were present in around 40% of children with ASD (van Steensel et al, 2012). Thus, social networking could provide these individuals with a platform to communicate with minimal anxiety; particularly reduced social evaluation and social anxiety.…”