title: Formal thought disorder and the autism spectrum: relationship with symptoms, executive control, and anxiety.
abstract: This study investigated whether children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) exhibit formal thought disorder (FTD), and whether this is related to ASD symptoms, executive control, and anxiety. Participants aged 8-17 with ASDs exhibited significantly more illogical thinking and loose associations than matched typically developing control subjects. In participants with ASDs, illogical thinking was related to aspects of cognitive functioning and to executive control. Loose associations were related to autism communication symptoms and to parent reports of stress and anxiety. When FTD is present in ASDs, it generally is not a co-morbid schizophrenia symptom, but is related to pragmatic language abnormalities found in ASDs. The clinical and neurobiological significance of this work is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Davis, 2230 Stockton Blvd., Sacramento, CA, 95817, USA. marjorie.solomon@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu
authors.forename: Marjorie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Solomon
authors.forename: Sally
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ozonoff
authors.forename: Cameron
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.forename: Rochelle
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Caplan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D001288:Attention; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D003118:Color Perception; D003147:Communication Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D003463:Cues; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D005600:Fragile X Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D011340:Problem Solving; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011930:Reaction Time; D012193:Reversal Learning; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012919:Social Behavior; D013850:Thinking; D014888:Wechsler Scales