TY - JOUR
T1 - Homotypic and Heterotypic Continuity in Psychiatric Symptoms From Childhood to Adolescence in Autistic Youth
AU - Carter Leno, Virginia
AU - Hollocks, Matthew J.
AU - Chandler, Susie
AU - White, Pippa
AU - Yorke, Isabel
AU - Charman, Tony
AU - Pickles, Andrew
AU - Baird, Gillian
AU - Simonoff, Emily
N1 - Funding Information:
The funders of the study had no role in study design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, or writing of the report. This report summarizes independent research funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Programme Grants for Applied Research ( RP-PG1211-20016 ). The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the National Health Service (NHS), the NIHR, or the Department of Health. The original QUEST sample was funded by the Clothworkers’ Foundation, brokered by Research Autism (R011217 Autism M10 2011/12). A.P. and E.S. received support from the NIHR through a Senior Investigator Award ( NF-SI-0617-10120 , NF-SI-0514-10073 ) and from the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley Foundation Trust ( IS-BRC-1215-20018 ). V.C.L. was supported by the Wellcome Trust through a Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellowship ( 213608/Z/18/Z ).
Funding Information:
The funders of the study had no role in study design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, or writing of the report. This report summarizes independent research funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Programme Grants for Applied Research (RP-PG1211-20016). The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the National Health Service (NHS), the NIHR, or the Department of Health. The original QUEST sample was funded by the Clothworkers’ Foundation, brokered by Research Autism (R011217 Autism M10 2011/12). A.P. and E.S. received support from the NIHR through a Senior Investigator Award (NF-SI-0617-10120, NF-SI-0514-10073) and from the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley Foundation Trust (IS-BRC-1215-20018). V.C.L. was supported by the Wellcome Trust through a Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellowship (213608/Z/18/Z). Funding acquisition: Charman, Pickles, Baird, Simonoff Disclosure: Prof. Charman has received grant or research support from the Medical Research Council (United Kingdom), the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Horizon 2020 and the Innovative Medicines Initiative (European Commission), Autistica, Epilepsy Research UK, the Baily Thomas Charitable Fund, the Charles Hawkins Fund, and the Waterloo Foundation. He has served as a consultant to F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. and Servier. He has received royalties from Sage Publications and Guilford Publications. Prof. Pickles has received questionnaire royalties from Western Psychological Services. Prof. Simonoff has received grant or research support from the NIHR, the European Commission, the Economic and Social Research Council, the Medical Research Council, the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley Foundation, the Psychiatry Research Trust, the Guy's and St. Thomas’ Charitable Foundation Trust, and the Maudsley Charity. She has received honoraria from the Royal College of Physicians as Senior Clinical Advisor for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Drs. Carter Leno, Hollocks, Chandler, White, and Yorke and Prof. Baird have reported no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
PY - 2022/12
Y1 - 2022/12
N2 - Objective: Despite the high prevalence of mental health difficulties in autistic youth, little is known about the patterns of developmental continuity and change in psychiatric symptoms between childhood and adolescence. Using a stratified community-derived sample of autistic youth (n = 101; 57 males, 44 females), within (homotypic) and between (heterotypic) domain associations between psychiatric symptoms in childhood to adolescence were tested as well as whether any continuities were moderated by sex, IQ, autism symptom severity, social economic status, or parental mental health. Method: Autistic youth were assessed for emotional, behavioral, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in childhood (age 4-9 years) and adolescence (age 13-17 years) using parental diagnostic interview. Unadjusted and adjusted (accounting for the co-occurrence of psychiatric symptoms in childhood) weighted models tested homotypic and heterotypic associations between symptoms in childhood and adolescence. Moderation of significant pathways was tested using multigroup analysis. Results: Adolescent psychiatric symptoms all were predicted by symptoms of their childhood counterparts (emotional symptoms incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 1.06, 95% CI = 1.02-1.10, p < .01; behavioral symptoms IRR = 1.38, 95% CI = 1.21-1.59, p < .01; ADHD symptoms IRR = 1.11, 95% CI = 1.05-1.19, p < .01); the only heterotypic pathway that remained significant in adjusted analyses was from childhood emotional symptoms to adolescent ADHD symptoms (IRR = 1.04, 95% CI = 1.01-1.07, p = .02). Sex moderated the homotypic ADHD symptoms pathway; associations were significant in female participants only. Child IQ moderated the homotypic behavioral symptoms pathway; the association was stronger in youth with IQ <70. Conclusion: Results from this community-based sample suggest that psychiatric symptoms in autistic youth exhibit substantial developmental continuity and thus highlight the importance of early screening and intervention. Sex and IQ may be important factors to consider when predicting likelihood of stability of ADHD and behavioral symptoms.
AB - Objective: Despite the high prevalence of mental health difficulties in autistic youth, little is known about the patterns of developmental continuity and change in psychiatric symptoms between childhood and adolescence. Using a stratified community-derived sample of autistic youth (n = 101; 57 males, 44 females), within (homotypic) and between (heterotypic) domain associations between psychiatric symptoms in childhood to adolescence were tested as well as whether any continuities were moderated by sex, IQ, autism symptom severity, social economic status, or parental mental health. Method: Autistic youth were assessed for emotional, behavioral, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in childhood (age 4-9 years) and adolescence (age 13-17 years) using parental diagnostic interview. Unadjusted and adjusted (accounting for the co-occurrence of psychiatric symptoms in childhood) weighted models tested homotypic and heterotypic associations between symptoms in childhood and adolescence. Moderation of significant pathways was tested using multigroup analysis. Results: Adolescent psychiatric symptoms all were predicted by symptoms of their childhood counterparts (emotional symptoms incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 1.06, 95% CI = 1.02-1.10, p < .01; behavioral symptoms IRR = 1.38, 95% CI = 1.21-1.59, p < .01; ADHD symptoms IRR = 1.11, 95% CI = 1.05-1.19, p < .01); the only heterotypic pathway that remained significant in adjusted analyses was from childhood emotional symptoms to adolescent ADHD symptoms (IRR = 1.04, 95% CI = 1.01-1.07, p = .02). Sex moderated the homotypic ADHD symptoms pathway; associations were significant in female participants only. Child IQ moderated the homotypic behavioral symptoms pathway; the association was stronger in youth with IQ <70. Conclusion: Results from this community-based sample suggest that psychiatric symptoms in autistic youth exhibit substantial developmental continuity and thus highlight the importance of early screening and intervention. Sex and IQ may be important factors to consider when predicting likelihood of stability of ADHD and behavioral symptoms.
KW - adolescence
KW - autism
KW - longitudinal
KW - psychopathology
KW - QUEST
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85134292886&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jaac.2022.05.010
DO - 10.1016/j.jaac.2022.05.010
M3 - Article
C2 - 35710080
AN - SCOPUS:85134292886
SN - 0890-8567
VL - 61
SP - 1445
EP - 1454
JO - Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
JF - Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
IS - 12
ER -
