Examining the relationship between autistic spectrum disorder characteristics and structural brain differences seen in anorexia nervosa

Halls, Daniel; Leppänen, Jenni; Kerr-Gaffney, Jess; Simic, Mima; Nicholls, Dasha; Mandy, William; Williams, Steven; Tchanturia, Kate

doi:10.1002/erv.2910

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…Participants' height and weight were measured after the ADOS-2 assessment and were used to calculate body mass index (BMI). The Time 1 assessments were a part of a larger study conducted between June 2017 and February 2019, which examined neural underpinnings of AN (29)(30)(31)(32).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Altogether 142 people with lived experience of AN expressed interest in taking part in a large neuroimaging study conducted between June 2017 and February 2019, which examined neural underpinnings of AN (29)(30)(31)(32). Participants were included if they identified as female, had a current or past diagnosis of AN, had not experienced significant head injury, had no learning disabilities, and were able to undergo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).…”

Section: Participantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Autism and anorexia nervosa: Longitudinal prediction of eating disorder outcomes

et al. 2022

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BackgroundRecently, elevated levels of autistic features and autism diagnoses have been reported among people with anorexia nervosa (AN). In clinical settings high levels of autistic features have been linked to more complex, highly comorbid illness presentation and poorer treatment outcome. This study aimed to examine whether autistic features predict AN symptom profile in long term.MethodsAltogether 118 women with lived experience of AN completed two autism assessments at time 1, the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) and the short version of the Autism Quotient (AQ10). Measures assessing AN symptom profile, including eating disorders symptoms, anxiety, depression, OCD symptoms, and Body Mass Index (BMI), were also recorded. The symptom profile measures were administered again 6 months and 2 years later. We conducted two analyses to examine the extent to which the ADOS and AQ10 scores predicted broad AN symptom profile at each three time points.ResultsOverall, high levels of autistic features were consistently associated with worse psychological symptoms, but not BMI, across all time points. Both the analysis using baseline ADOS scores and self-reported AQ10 scores showed similar pattern.ConclusionThe present findings consolidate previously reported associations between autistic features and worse psychological outcome among people with AN. The findings also suggest that self-report measures may be sufficient for assessing the impact of autistic features on illness outcome among people with AN. Importantly, the study highlights the need for development and further investigation of neurodiversity accommodations in the treatment of AN.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Participantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Autism and anorexia nervosa: Longitudinal prediction of eating disorder outcomes

et al. 2022

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“…Participants' height and weight were measured after the ADOS assessment and were used to calculate body mass index (BMI). The Time 1 assessments were a part of a larger study conducted between June 2017 and February 2019, which examined neural underpinnings of AN (Halls et al, 2021(Halls et al, , 2022Leslie et al, 2020Leslie et al, , 2021.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Autism and anorexia nervosa: longitudinal prediction of eating disorder outcomes

Leppänen¹,

Sedgewick²,

Halls³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Background: Recently, elevated levels of autistic traits and autism diagnoses have been reported among people with anorexia nervosa (AN). In clinical settings high levels of autistic traits have been linked to more complex, highly comorbid illness presentation and poorer outcome. This study aimed to examine whether autistic traits predict AN symptom profile in long term. Methods: Altogether 118 women with lived experience of AN completed two autism assessments at time 1, the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule and the short version of the Autism Quotient. Measures assessing AN symptom profile, including eating disorders symptoms, anxiety, depression, OCD symptoms, and BMI, were also recorded. The symptom profile measures were administered again 6 months and 2 years later. We examined the extent to which the autism measures predicted AN symptom profile at each three time points.Results: Regardless of the autism measure used, high levels of autistic traits were consistently associated with worse psychological symptoms, but not BMI, across all time points. Discussion: The present findings solidify previously reported associations between autistic traits worse psychological outcome among people with AN. The findings also suggest that self-report measures may be sufficient for assessing autistic traits among people with AN. Importantly, the study highlights the need for development and further investigation of neurodiversity accommodations in the treatment of AN.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Autism and anorexia nervosa: longitudinal prediction of eating disorder outcomes

Leppänen

Sedgewick

Halls

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Recently, elevated levels of autistic traits and autism diagnoses have been reported among people with anorexia nervosa (AN). In clinical settings high levels of autistic traits have been linked to more complex, highly comorbid illness presentation and poorer outcome. This study aimed to examine whether autistic traits predict AN symptom profile in long term. Methods: Altogether 118 women with lived experience of AN completed two autism assessments at time 1, the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) and the short version of the Autism Quotient (AQ10). Measures assessing AN symptom profile, including eating disorders symptoms, anxiety, depression, OCD symptoms, and BMI, were also recorded. The symptom profile measures were administered again 6 months and 2 years later. We conducted two analyses to examine the extent to which the ADOS and AQ10 scores predicted broad AN symptom profile at each three time points.Results: Overall, high levels of autistic traits were consistently associated with worse psychological symptoms, but not BMI, across all time points. Both the analysis using baseline ADOS scores and self-reported AQ10 scores showed similar pattern. Limitations: The sample consisted of young women only and it is therefore, difficult to ascertain whether these findings extend to other genders. Additionally, 70% of the participants who completed the self-report questionnaires at Time 1 also agreed to undergo ADOS assessment. This may have limited the power of the analysis involving ADOS scores compared to the analysis using AQ10 scores. Conclusions: The present findings solidify previously reported associations between autistic traits and worse psychological outcome among people with AN. The findings also suggest that self-report measures may be sufficient for assessing autistic traits among people with AN. Importantly, the study highlights the need for development and further investigation of neurodiversity accommodations in the treatment of AN.

show abstract

Examining the relationship between autistic spectrum disorder characteristics and structural brain differences seen in anorexia nervosa

Cited by 7 publications

References 60 publications

Autism and anorexia nervosa: Longitudinal prediction of eating disorder outcomes

Autism and anorexia nervosa: Longitudinal prediction of eating disorder outcomes

Autism and anorexia nervosa: longitudinal prediction of eating disorder outcomes

Autism and anorexia nervosa: longitudinal prediction of eating disorder outcomes

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