Clinical and psychosocial characteristics in adults with pervasive development disorders: a survey in Japan

Abstract

Background: In spite of the relatively high prevalence of pervasive development disorders (PDD), the medical and educational services for persons with PDD are insufficient in Japan. The present study investigated the clinical and psychosocial characteristics of adults with PDD in Japan. Methods: We selected 111 individuals with PDD out of the 257 subjects attending an outpatient clinic for adult PDD at Showa University Karasuyama Hospital, between the period of July 2008 and June of 2009. Sociodemographic factors, psychosocial characteristics, and medication status of the subjects were investigated. Results: The mean age of subjects at the initial visit to a medical organization was 21.4 years; however, only 34.2 % were diagnosed as having PDD. These results indicated that persons with PDD are apt to be misdiagnosed. Most of the persons with PDD were unmarried, and lived with their parents. This may be partly due to economic reasons, because the unemployment rate was high in this group. More than 45 % of the subjects with PDD were taking psychoactive medications, which indicated that they carried a high-risk for co-existing mental health problems. Conclusions:The results of the present study indicated that many persons with PDD are socially isolated, in spite of their relatively high level of education, and that these individuals require additional medical and educational services.

Development and Preliminary Validation of the Couples’ Stigma Scale to Assess Self-Stigma among the Partners of Persons with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Japan

“…Therefore, spouses' self-stigma has mostly gone unrecognized, and the number of spouses of persons with ASD in Japan has not been clarified. In fact, many high-functioning individuals with ASD have interest and experience in romantic relationships [6] and sexuality [7,8], and the proportion of individuals with ASD who marry has been reported to be 10% [9] to 16% [10]. However, spouses of individuals with ASD are said to struggle with self-stigma, requiring attention and additional care [11].…”

Qualitative Study of Wives of Husbands with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Subjective Experience of Wives from Marriage to Marital Crisis

“…In recent years, many high-functioning individuals with ASD have engaged in sex with men and women (Byers, Nichols, & Voyer, 2013;Hellemans, Colson, Verbraeken, Vermeiren, & Deboutte, 2007) and developed romantic relationships (Strunz et al, 2017); the proportion of them who marry has been reported as 10% (Yukawa et al, 2013) to 16% (Tani et al, 2012). There are increasing opportunities for ASD individuals to get married; that means there are challenges for ASD individuals in maintaining long-term relationships and marrying (Howlin, Mawhood, & Rutter, 2000;Orsmond, Krauss, & Seltzer, 2004;Renty & Roeyers, 2007).…”