Social difficulties in youth with autism with and without anxiety and ADHD symptoms

McVey, Alana J.; Schiltz, Hillary; Haendel, Angela D.; Dolan, Bridget; Willar, Kirsten S.; Pleiss, Sheryl; Karst, Jeffrey; Carlson, Mary; Krueger, Wendy; Murphy, Christina; Casnar, Christina L.; Yund, Brianna; Hecke, Amy Vaughan Van

doi:10.1002/aur.2039

Cited by 32 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…This study’s findings indicate that loneliness plays an important role in social anxiety and depression among autistic young adults. These results extend previous research that identified associations between autism features and mental health concerns among autistic people (Factor et al, 2017; Mayes et al, 2011; McVey et al, 2018) by identifying an indirect effect through loneliness. Similar effects have been identified in a non-clinical, neurotypical college student sample (Stice & Lavner, 2019), suggesting that parallel processes may be at play for autistic adults.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

“…Researchers have identified positive links between autism features and mental health concerns. Scores on a measure of autism symptoms have been shown to be higher among autistic youth with symptoms of anxiety compared to those without (Factor et al, 2017; McVey et al, 2018). Given the core social component of autism (APA, 2013), social anxiety may be rooted in autism-specific risk factors including social confusion, withdrawal, and negative social interactions (Bellini, 2006; Spain et al, 2018; Wood & Gadow, 2010), and thus, ties between social anxiety and autism features have also been found among autistic adults (Bejerot et al, 2014).…”

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confidence: 99%

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The role of loneliness as a mediator between autism features and mental health among autistic young adults

Schiltz

McVey

Wozniak

et al. 2020

Autism

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Autistic adults commonly experience anxiety and depression. These mental health concerns are often tied to social experiences, such that mental well-being can be supported by social connection and deteriorated by loneliness. The mediating role of social and emotional loneliness (i.e. social isolation and lack of emotional attachment, respectively) between autism features and mental health has yet to be empirically tested among autistic adults. Here, 69 autistic young adults completed self-report questionnaires assessing social contact (Friendship Questionnaire), autism features (Autism Quotient), mental health (Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, Social Phobia Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory), and loneliness (Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults). Positive associations emerged between autism features, social loneliness, family loneliness, social anxiety, and depression. In addition, more social contact was related to less social and family loneliness and less social anxiety but was not related to depression. Mediation analyses indicated significant indirect effects of social contact and autism features on mental health through social loneliness. Indirect effects partially held substituting family loneliness for social loneliness and did not hold using romantic loneliness. In light of these results, the scientific and clinical implications of the role of loneliness for autistic young adults are discussed and recommendations provided. Lay abstract Autistic adults commonly experience mental health concerns including social anxiety and depression, which can have negative effects on their quality of life. It is not completely clear, however, why rates of mental health concerns are so high. Some evidence suggests that social connectedness might play a key role. The goal of this study was to explore links between loneliness, mental health concerns, autism features, and social contact among autistic adults and test whether the links between mental health with autism features and social contact can be explained by loneliness. Researchers in this study collected data using questionnaires completed by 69 autistic young adults. Autistic adults who reported more autism features also reported more social and family loneliness, higher levels of social anxiety and depression, and fewer initiated social contacts. In addition, adults with more social contact initiations were likely to report lower levels of social and family loneliness and social anxiety but not depression. Results showed that the link from social engagement and autism features to social anxiety and depression symptoms could be mostly explained by loneliness. The results of this study expand previous findings by illustrating one factor (loneliness) that might be responsible for the high rates of mental health concerns among adults on the autism spectrum. These findings highlight the importance of studying factors related to mental health concerns among autistic adults and ways to best support social connectedness for the mental well-being of autistic young adults.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

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confidence: 99%

The role of loneliness as a mediator between autism features and mental health among autistic young adults

Schiltz

McVey

Wozniak

et al. 2020

Autism

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“…In our study, during school closedown period, children with ASD predominantly had changes in behavior, while most children in the control group maintained the previous behavior. Moreover, the causes for this behavior change reported by the parents were anxiety, irritability, obsession, hostility and impulsivity, all symptoms pre- viously described in the literature associated with this condition [16][17][18]. Emotion dysregulation is also a common issue experienced by individuals with ASD, and has been associated with maladaptive strategies [19].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…We also know that school demands and social engagement [17,22,23] are stressors for children with ASD and taking this into account we could imagine that being at home, during quarantine, away from these challenges could comfort these children. However, during this period these children had to face a huge stressor for them: change of routines.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacto de la COVID-19 en niños con trastorno del espectro autista

et al. 2020

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Introduction. Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often experience changing routines as a major challenge. For that reason, the need for adaptation during COVID-19 pandemic may have brought major problems to families with children with this pathology. Aim. To explore how children with ASD and their parents experienced the social isolation during COVID-19 outbreak period. Subjects and methods. We conducted an observational, cross-sectional and analytical study. We applied an anonymous questionnaire that included children's demographic and clinical characteristics, along with the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak in different aspects of family's daily life. Results. Out of 99 questionnaires obtained, 43 were related to children with ASD and 56 to control group. Children with ASD predominantly had changes in behavior, while children from control group mostly found no changes. The majority of parents of ASD children reported a negative impact in emotion management against those in control group reporting mostly positive or no impact. Caregivers reported higher mean scores of anxiety levels in themselves than in their children. ASD children and their parents had higher levels of anxiety than healthy ones. In the group with ASD, children that did not maintain routines had higher mean levels of anxiety than children that maintained routines. Conclusion. Our results show a potential important psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic not only in children with neurodevelopmental disorders but in their caregivers as well. Physicians must be prepared for the post-pandemic surveillance of mental disorders among families.

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“…For caregiver report, however, the depression correlations were either no different or stronger than the SAS-A and SIAS associations, which provides little support for divergent validity; this pattern is likely confounded by differences in reporter, given that the SIAS is self-report. Furthermore, it is documented that the presence of anxiety is linked with greater reports of social difficulties for those with ASD (e.g., White & Roberson-Nay, 2009), and, in particular, SRS scores (Factor et al, 2017; McVey et al, 2018). While caregiver report on the SAS-A was positively correlated with the SRS, the association was not significantly different from the correlation between the SAS-A and the SIAS—given that SRS is parent report and SIAS is self-report, these findings are not unexpected.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Psychometric Analysis of the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents Among Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Caregiver–Adolescent Agreement, Factor Structure, and Validity

et al. 2019

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Social anxiety is common among adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). An ongoing challenge for both research and clinical practice in ASD is the assessment of anxious symptomatology. Despite its widespread use in samples of youth with ASD, the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A) has not received psychometric evaluation within this population; thus, the validity of its use in research and clinical practice for ASD remains unclear. The present study conducted a psychometric analysis of caregiver and adolescent SAS-A forms in a sample of adolescents with ASD (N = 197). Results revealed (1) poor caregiver–adolescent item-level agreement, (2) a two-factor structure, (3) lack of measurement invariance between reporters, and (4) modest evidence for convergent and discriminant validity. Overall, findings suggest that this measure demonstrates reasonable psychometric properties in an ASD sample. Lack of measurement invariance, however, calls for careful interpretation of research involving the SAS-A in ASD samples, particularly when the primary goal is to compare adolescent and caregiver reports. The implications of these findings for future research and clinical practice are discussed.

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Social difficulties in youth with autism with and without anxiety and ADHD symptoms

Cited by 32 publications

References 72 publications

The role of loneliness as a mediator between autism features and mental health among autistic young adults

The role of loneliness as a mediator between autism features and mental health among autistic young adults

Impacto de la COVID-19 en niños con trastorno del espectro autista

A Psychometric Analysis of the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents Among Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Caregiver–Adolescent Agreement, Factor Structure, and Validity

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