Brief Report: Prevalence and Predictors of DSM-Specific and Distinct Anxiety in Cognitively Impaired Autistic Preschool Children.
Jordan Klein, Connor Kerns, Kimberly Hills and 3 others
PMID 37039980WHAT IT FOUND
Autistic preschool children with cognitive impairment did not show higher overall anxiety than non-autistic peers.
They showed more anxiety when common fears were excluded, especially autism-related worries.
Key findings
01In the autistic group, 64% met criteria for any anxiety disorder, compared with 44% in the non-autistic group, and the difference was not statistically significant.
02When DSM-specific phobias were excluded, 42.9% of autistic children met criteria for an anxiety disorder compared with 16.7% of non-autistic children. Autism-related distinct anxiety was present in 42.9% of autistic children and 11.1% of non-autistic children.
03Within the autistic group, children who met anxiety criteria had a higher autism severity score (mean 5.76 on a 1 to 10 scale) than children who did not (mean 3.38).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The sample was small: 46 children, including 28 autistic children and 18 non-autistic children. The non-autistic group was small. Some within-group comparisons were limited. Anxiety was assessed only from parent report, not from child report or direct behavioral and physiological measures. The children had low cognitive levels and limited language. The interviews relied on behavioral examples and parent descriptions. Rates changed depending on whether common phobias were included or excluded, so the overall anxiety finding was not stable across classification methods.
Declared interests
The study used participants from an ongoing longitudinal NIMH study (R01MH107573). The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the 64% anxiety rate as proof that autistic preschool children with cognitive impairment have more anxiety than non-autistic peers overall. The overall difference was not statistically significant. The clearer differences were for anxiety after common phobias were excluded and for autism-related distinct anxiety.