Anxiety and depression in children with HFASDs: symptom levels and source differences.
The purpose of this study was to: (1) examine symptom levels of anxiety and depression in children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders (HFASDs) compared with matched control children using child self-reports and parent ratings; and (2) examine source differences within the two condition groups. An overall multivariate effect indicated significantly elevated depression and anxiety symptoms for children with HFASDs based on parent reports; however no significant between-group differences based on child self-reports. Within-condition source comparisons (parent vs. child) revealed a significant multivariate effect indicating a significant difference in symptoms of depression and anxiety for the HFASD group but none for the control. Correlations between parent and child reports for the HFASD group suggested some positive association between child-reports and parent-reports for depressive symptoms only; however, the difference in average scores reflected a substantial discrepancy in the magnitude of symptoms by rater. Implications for clinical assessment and future research are provided.
Lopata
Christopher
C
Institute for Autism Research, Health Sciences 216, Canisius College, 2001 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14208-1098, USA. lopatac@canisius.edu
Toomey
Jennifer A
JA
Fox
Jeffery D
JD
Volker
Martin A
MA
Chow
Sabrina Y
SY
Thomeer
Marcus L
ML
Lee
Gloria K
GK
Rodgers
Jonathan D
JD
McDonald
Christin A
CA
Smerbeck
Audrey M
AM
D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index