Autism and depression are connected: A report of two complimentary network studies.
Barbara Fc van Heijst, Marie K Deserno, Didi Rhebergen and 1 others
PMID 31709804WHAT IT FOUND
Autistic adults and people with depression report similar levels of worry and low perceived control over their lives.
While these factors link autism and depression symptoms, the study cannot prove that low control causes either condition, nor that improving it will resolve them.
Key findings
01Both autistic adults and individuals with depression reported more worries and less perceived mastery (control over life stressors) than age-matched comparison groups.
02In the network analysis, perceived mastery acted as a central node connecting autism traits and depression symptoms, though direct links between autism and depression were also present.
03The stability checks for the network metrics were borderline or poor, meaning the specific pathways identified should not be interpreted as firm causal bridges.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot determine causality. We do not know if low mastery causes depression/autism symptoms, or vice versa. The network stability metrics were poor to borderline, meaning the specific connections identified might not be robust or replicable. The two studies used different depression measures (IDS-SR vs SCL-90-R) and different age ranges, which limits the direct comparability of the two networks. The autism cohort included only adults with a clinical diagnosis, and the depression cohort included older adults, so findings may not generalize to younger autistic adults or younger depressed individuals. It remains unclear if standard self-report measures for depression and mastery are fully valid or appropriate for autistic adults, who may experience difficulties articulating internal states.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest. The study was funded by various grants including Fonds NutsOhra, NARSAD, ZonMw, and the NWO.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that improving a patient's sense of mastery will treat their autism or depression. The study shows a correlation in a network model with poor stability, but it did not test an intervention and cannot prove that changing mastery levels alters the relationship between autism and depression.